Often compared to US President Donald Trump, Argentine leader Javier Miley decided not to come to New Jersey for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final due to superstition. According to the Associated Press (AP), Miley explained to reporters that he would watch Argentina's last game in the tournament in the same way as the previous ones, so as not to jinx the team's success.
The 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina will take place on Sunday, July 19, at the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Start time is 3:00 pm Eastern Time (ET).
Miley, elected in 2023, noted that he watched Lionel Messi's team's last World Cup matches from his presidential residence, Quinta de Olivos. In addition, he was wearing a certain item of clothing.
“It’s cold now and I don’t turn on the heating. That's why I put on a jacket from an oil company. When I watched the match with Switzerland [в четвертьфинале]I felt very hot, and I took it off. They immediately scored on us, so I put it back on and never took it off again,” explained the Argentine President.
As AP notes, rituals of this kind are common in Argentina under the name “bondage.” The country's presidents have been particularly wary of attending major football matches since Carlos Menem walked into the team's dressing room before their opening match defeat to Cameroon at the 1990 World Cup.
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By the way, a similar superstition is widespread among American sports fans in connection with Trump. This year, he attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals to cheer on the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs. The meeting was the only one in this series that the Knicks lost, but still became champions after five matches. At the same time, with the arrival of Trump, the team broke its streak of 13 victories in playoff matches, which became the second longest in the history of the league.
The Knicks have lost their win streak after Donald Trump attended the Knicks' homecoming game. pic.twitter.com/kFuOkbLtAU
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) June 9, 2026
Before that, last September, Trump attended the United States' first home defeat in the Ryder Cup in 13 years, and in November he watched the NFL lose to the Washington Commanders when he decided to become the first US president in 50 years to attend a regular-season game.
Trump's decision to attend the 2026 World Cup finals last Thursday was confirmed by White House press secretary Caroline Levitt, who returned from maternity leave. She did not specify who he would root for.
Messi, who is the captain of the Argentina national team and currently the top scorer of the World Cup, has been playing for the American football club Inter Miami in recent years. He is based in Florida, where Trump has a residence permit and the Mar-a-Lago estate, where he spends weekends.
