Gianni Infantino
Fifa president

The work that my team is doing is absolutely perfect. Sometimes, if they mess it up, it is because of me. We are confronted with challenges that we would rather not be confronted with. When we are confronted, we have to deal with them. Sometimes we can solve them, sometimes we have to make the best out of it.

Gianni Infantino mentions Iran, tickets and visas.

He says he went to see the Iranian team and promised them they would come to the World Cup and said he would drive them on a bus himself.

Gianni Infantino carries on praising the team at Fifa, who have worked to deliver this World Cup.

He says the work his team is doing is "absolutely perfect" and they deal with challenges when confronted with them.

Gianni Infantino
Fifa president

A big, big thank you also to the fans, the fans who are here, six and a half million, seven million, we don’t know exactly what will be in the stadium for the matches. There will be many more millions in fan zones, fanfests, watch parties, not just in the three host countries but everywhere in the world and the fans make the World Cup, of course, what it is.

He is now thanking his team for delivering the "biggest event in the history of mankind".

He's likened it to 104 Super Bowls in one month.

Image source, Getty Images

Gianni Infantino
Fifa president

Thanks also to the countries not here, over 211 Fifa member associations. It's thanks to the work of all of them that we are here today. We are investing from the revenues of the World Cup into all of these countries that football can grow all over the world and the dream can be alive all over the world.

Gianni Infantino says the Azteca Stadium is a "cathedral of football".

Gianni Infantino says the revenues from the World Cup can be reinvested in footballing nations across the world.

Image source, Getty Images

Gianni Infantino
Fifa president

It’s a pleasure to be here today because we are kicking off the 23rd Fifa World Cup so it’s a moment of joy, it's a moment of celebration, it’s a moment of happiness and I am very, very happy to see this ball rolling in a few hours' time. And this trophy will be awarded in a few weeks' time.

The most iconic trophy in the world, the most incredible cup, a trophy and a ball that makes people dream all over the world and today I hope we can also speak a little bit about football, because that's what we are here about. I know that there are other topics as well and we will definitely also touch on them but I would like to ask you to really focus on football.

Gianni Infantino is also thanking the media, the President of the United States Donald Trump and the fans who are making the trip to the US, Canada and Mexico.

Gianni Infantino
Fifa president

There is an empty seat here in this room today. This empty seat is for a French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who is the only sports journalist who is detained in the world. He has an accreditation and he has his seat here. I have invited his parents to a game, France v Senegal.

I really hope that in a great act of humanity he will be given grace, presidential grace and can even join us here during the World Cup. For the time he is no here, his seat is here for him.

Gianni Infantino starts by talking about French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, who cannot be at the World Cup after being detained in Algeria for a year.

Fifa has given him accreditation and has invited his parents to watch France v Senegal.

Dan Roan
BBC sports editor

Fifa has pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, and to reach net-zero by 2040. Playing all of this World Cup's matches at existing stadia helps with such ambitions. But expanding the tournament to such an extent does not, with aviation accounting for 80-90% of its carbon footprint.

Indeed, environmentalists claim it will be "the most climate-damaging" in the event's history, with the high reliance on air travel meaning it will generate more than nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent - almost double the average for the past four World Cups.

In their original bid book, the three prospective host nations unveiled a preliminary estimate of 3.6m tonnes of CO2e, referencing hopes that it would "establish new standards for environmental sustainability in sport".

Just weeks ago, a group of world-leading scientists warned Fifa that its current heat safety measures for the World Cup were "inadequate" and could put players at risk of serious harm.

Fifa says it is "committed to protecting the health and safety of players, referees, fans, volunteers and staff" and that climate-related risks are all assessed.

But there is set to be intense scrutiny on the impacts of extreme weather, including the long delays if matches are halted due to electrical storms - Saudi Arabia's warm-up match against Puerto Rico in Texas on 6 June was stopped for nearly two hours - and whether Fifa may be contributing to the problem.

Gianni Infantino wants to speak about football and says he knows there are other topics but he wants to really focus on football.

Gianni Infantino is currently going through the languages to welcome people to the news conference.

He holds up the World Cup ball and says he's looking forward to it rolling in a few hours.

Right then, Fifa president Gianni Infantino is here.

Only three minutes late.

Image source, Getty Images

As well as following this live text, you can watch Gianni Infantino's news conference live from the Azteca Stadium in Mexico.

Click the 'watch live' button at the top of this page and away you go.

Image source, Getty Images

Referee Omar Artan has vowed to officiate at the 2030 World Cup after arriving home in Somalia following his ban from entering the United States.

The 34-year-old - Africa's referee of the year in 2025 - was set to be the first Somali to referee at a World Cup finals but was denied entry at Miami International Airport on Monday despite holding a diplomatic passport and a single entry US visa.

No reason for his repatriation has been given by US immigration authorities, but Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by President Donald Trump.

"I'd like to thank the officials, ministers, MPs and everyone. I want to thank my country and people for their support. The encouragement I received here, I know I'll get more support outside [the airport]," Artan said, translated into English by the BBC.

"Everything is pre-destined. Fifa supported me well and were in touch with me until I reached Mogadishu.

"I promise you that I'll be officiating you in the next World Cup. Somalia, everywhere, I'm letting you know."

Dan Roan
BBC sports editor

Back in 2017, during Trump's first term, Infantino had suggested a US travel ban on citizens from six majority-Muslim countries was incompatible with tournament regulations, and could invalidate the country's hopes to host the tournament in 2026.

"It's obvious when it comes to Fifa competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup," he warned.

And yet, as a result of the immigration policies implemented by Trump during his second term in office, there will be four competing countries - Iran, Haiti, Senegal and Ivory Coast - whose fans have faced full or partial travel bans, with the White House referencing a need to manage security threats.

In fact, analysis of travel data by the BBC shows that fans from more than a quarter of the 48 countries taking part in the World Cup are facing travel bans, tighter restrictions or high visa rejection rates.

It was only last month that visitors from Algeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde and Tunisia were granted exemptions from having to pay a deposit of up to $15,000 (£11,000) before obtaining a US visa.

At the weekend, the International Sports Press Association complained about "a long-standing and unacceptable problem for us journalists - the denial of entry visas to regularly accredited colleagues".

And on Monday, Fifa said that Omar Artan, who was set to be the first Somalian to referee at the World Cup finals, had been dropped from the list of officials after he was denied entry to the US. No reason was issued by US immigration authorities, but Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by the Trump administration.

Dan Roan
BBC sports editor

No other World Cup has been spread over three countries. Nor has it involved as many as 48 teams and 104 matches.

But beyond its sheer scale, this tournament is unprecedented in other ways. Never before, for instance, has a host country been at war with a participating nation.

Just last month, Fifa confirmed the Iran team had moved its base from Arizona to Mexico, the latest result of the military campaign launched in February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran, sparking retaliatory strikes across the Middle East. While a ceasefire came into effect in early April, strikes between the two sides have continued.

In the past few months, confusion has surrounded Iran's participation, with President Trump at one stage warning it was not "appropriate" for the team to participate "for their own life and safety". His special envoy even suggested that Iran should be replaced by four-time winners Italy, who had failed to qualify.

Iran now look set to take part in a fourth consecutive World Cup, although the country has accused the US of denying visas to some executives and backroom staff, with an official claiming the players had been told they must enter and leave the US on the same day of their three group matches there.

On Tuesday, Iran's football federation said its allocation of fan tickets for the group stage had been revoked, adding it "raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the world's biggest football event