Multiple flights in a single day. Nearly 60,000 miles. More than 100 hours aloft.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino got some serious air time over the course of the 2026 World Cup, the tournament's most far-flung edition ever. He crisscrossed North America for matches, meetings and other appearances during the competition, which took place in three countries, 16 cities and four time zones, and ends with Sunday's final in New Jersey.
To track his travels, The Associated Press analyzed flight logs for a private business jet used by Infantino in recent years, along with photos taken by AP photographers and images posted on Instagram by FIFA and the head of world soccer's governing body himself. The analysis shows that by the time either Argentina or Spain emerges as champion, he will have flown far enough to circle the planet almost 2 1/2 times.
Access to a Gulfstream G650 jet from the fleet of the Qatari government made Infantino's prodigious jet-setting possible. The aircraft is operated by the private charter division of Qatar Airways, a World Cup sponsor.
Since a June 9 flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City ahead of the tournament's opening match, the aircraft averaged more than one flight a day and on multiple days made more than three, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
Along with attending matches, Infantino’s itinerary included stops in New York for an interview on Fox & Friends and in Miami for a FIFA summit attended by representatives from the organization’s 211 member associations. He also flew to Doha to attend the funeral of Qatar’s former emir before returning to the U.S. in time for the World Cup semifinals.
FIFA did not respond to an emailed request for comment about Infantino’s travel schedule and arrangements.
Here’s a look at some of the numbers racked up by the person overseeing the tournament that will have featured a record 104 matches spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the largest geographic footprint in World Cup history.
The number of World Cup matches Infantino attended before Sunday. FlightAware showed the Gulfstream originally was scheduled to fly from New Jersey to Miami in time for the third-place match between England and France but never took off. Thunderstorms caused flight delays at New York City area airports on Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Infantino saw at least one match at all 16 World Cup venues. Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, where he attended five games, is the venue he visited the most.
The number of days Infantino attended two matches, often at stadiums located hundreds of miles apart.
The Gulfstream mostly used the host cities' main international airports during the tournament but sometimes relied on smaller general and business aviation airports, including Atlanta's Fulton County Executive Airport and Miami's Opa Locka Executive Airport.
The number of international border crossings the jet made within North America through the semifinals.
The flight time the Gulfstream amassed during the tournament, not including repositioning flights and 29 hours of travel for the funeral in Qatar, equals nearly five full days in the air and would be enough for a commercial plane traveling at typical cruising speed to fly from New York to Los Angeles 20 times.
Excluding the journey to Qatar, the flight that took the longest lasted 344 minutes and went from Miami to Seattle, where Infantino attended the Belgium-Egypt match on June 15. The flight time is the same length as three full World Cup matches from kickoff to final whistle.
The shortest flight time, excluding repositioning flights, was a 28-minute hop from Seattle to Vancouver on July 6 — about the length of a network TV sitcom like “Friends” with commercials. Infantino attended the United States-Belgium match in Seattle that day before watching Switzerland face Colombia in Vancouver the following day.
The distance the jet traveled during the tournament, excluding the journey to Qatar and back for the funeral, according to the AP analysis. That's more than round-trip flights between New York and Singapore, Los Angeles and Doha, Qatar, and London and the Australian city of Perth combined.
The most miles covered in a single day’s itinerary were on June 26, which started with a morning flight from Miami to Dallas. From there, the plane went to Seattle, where Infantino attended the Egypt-Iran match. The final leg departed Seattle late that night and landed the next morning in Miami. Infantino watched Colombia face Portugal there.
FIFA has pledged to reduce carbon emissions from the World Cup and related activities by half by 2030 and has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2040. The organization’s 2026 World Cup sustainability and human rights strategy says it is committed to addressing climate change.
Climate researchers and environmental groups have argued that the expanded, three-country tournament was likely to produce the most atmosphere-polluting greenhouse gases of any World Cup emissions and be the most carbon-intensive World Cup ever because of the extensive air travel required for teams, fans and officials.
Associated Press journalist Graham Dunbar in Geneva, Switzerland contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump speaks as FIFA President Gianni Infantino listens at a reception at Trump Tower in New York, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
FIFA president Gianni Infantino signs autographs after Spain defeated France the World Cup semifinal soccer match in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Norway and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Kyiv overnight with ballistic missiles and other weapons, killing one and wounding 16 people, local authorities said Sunday, again highlighting Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.
Moscow has in recent weeks stepped up its use of ballistic missiles as it seeks to choke off Ukrainian strikes on oil facilities deep inside Russia that have caused critical fuel shortages affecting both the military and the civilian population.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriots, the most effective means of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, potentially bolstering Kyiv’s defenses. However, the details and timeline remain unclear, and full production could take years.
The latest attack on Kyiv began at around 1:30 a.m. and continued for several hours, with explosions echoing across the city.
Russia launched 41 missiles and 125 drones across Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said most of the missiles had targeted the capital.
The strikes on Kyiv sparked fires in five districts, damaging residential buildings, office and industrial sites, a dormitory and vehicles, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Viktoria Shejko, 32, was taking shelter in the corridor of her apartment block with her seven children and husband when they heard the loud explosions.
“When the alarm started, we checked that there were ballistics, then went into the corridor. Then it started exploding one missile after another,” she said.
The strain of constant bombardment is “very difficult psychologically,” she said. “It used to be once a week or even more rarely, but now if not every day, then every other day.”
Rescuers pulled four people from a burning home in the Sviatoshynskyi district, while in the Shevchenkivskyi district, they rushed to save residents from a three-story building on fire. One person was found dead. Firefighters also responded to blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi and Dnipro districts.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed the attack on Kyiv targeted sites linked to the Ukrainian military — including plants producing Flamingo drones and parts for Neptune guided missiles, as well as a postal terminal used for storing dual-use goods and assembling drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment.
Separately, a strike on two oil tankers at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal off Russia’s Black Sea halted oil loadings at the site, the CPC said Sunday.
The attack on the ASIA and NISSOS tankers in the port of Novorossiysk sparked a fire aboard the ASIA, which was extinguished. The company did not say who was responsible for the attack. It added there were no casualties or oil spills, and the tankers — sailing under the flags of Liberia and the Marshall respectively — remained afloat.
Both Russia and Ukraine have sharply ramped up strikes on ships in the Black and Azov seas over the past week. Ukraine says it targets Russia's so-called shadow fleet, which ships oil in violation of international sanctions over the Kremlin's invasion of its neighbor.
Kyiv has for months been targeting Russia's oil industry, which it says both directly fuels Moscow's war effort and funds it through export revenues, triggering acute fuel shortages in a country that is one of the world's top oil producers.
The CPC is a 940-mile (1,510-kilometer) oil pipeline connecting Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea oil deposits with Novorossiysk, where the oil is loaded and shipped by tanker to world markets. The pipeline accounts for about 80% of oil-rich Kazakhstan's crude exports, with the Russian government and Russian state oil firms holding a combined 31% stake in the enterprise.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday that Ukrainian units struck more energy infrastructure in Russian territory.
He said units of Ukraine’s Security Service agency struck three oil depots in the Stavropol region, while a separate army unit of the army hit another fuel-related facility in the same region. Three Russian tankers were also struck in the Black Sea, he said.
Stavropol Gov. Vladimir Vladimirov earlier referenced Ukrainian drone attacks sparking fires at “industrial facilities” in two locations within the region. He did not specify what the facilities were, but said nobody was hurt.
Russian news outlet Astra on Sunday claimed that three oil depots may be burning in Stavropol, based on its analysis of photos and videos sent in by locals after the attack.
Russian air defense systems shot down 140 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions, annexed Crimea, and the Black and Azov seas overnight into Sunday, Russia's defense ministry reported. It did not say how many were launched or reached their targets.
In Russia's Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, Ukrainian drones struck four apartment buildings, setting off a fire and injuring one person, according to local Gov. Alexander Khinshtein.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
An owner looks at her damaged car following a Russia missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Activists kneel as they take a moment of silence to honor the fallen soldiers in Russia-Ukraine war during a rally to denounce President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after six months in the post, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A woman carries a cage with a parrot as she leaves her damaged house following a Russia missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Smoke rises over the city after a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Debris surrounds a missile crater in the foreground of a building following Russia's missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Local residents wander among debris following a Russia missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
