The report says seven World Cup matches are scheduled in Miami, including Scotland v Brazil, while Uruguay v Saudi Arabia is due to open the city’s tournament programme on 15 June. It also says eight national teams are expected to establish training bases in Florida.
That would turn the region into a global sporting hub, with supporters, players, officials and international media concentrated only a short distance from Cuba. The argument is not that a football tournament can settle a military confrontation. Rather, any action during the competition could carry a far higher diplomatic and reputational cost.
“Minha teoria é que ele não pode atacar durante o torneio,” a European diplomat said, according to the report - a theory that presents the World Cup as a temporary pause in political pressure.
Carlos Alzugaray, a former Cuban ambassador to the European Union, reportedly believes the tournament’s proximity makes a US operation more complicated. The presence of foreign delegations could increase scrutiny, while disruption in Miami would immediately become a global sports story.
But football’s soft power has clear limits. A packed stadium, a high-profile fixture and thousands of travelling supporters cannot guarantee restraint from governments facing domestic or strategic pressures. The idea that the tournament might discourage action is therefore best treated as a political calculation, not a safeguard.
There is no confirmed indication that the World Cup itself is under threat. For now, the concern remains about what could happen around it.
The focus will shift as 15 June approaches and Miami prepares to welcome its first teams and fans. Whether the city becomes a rare space for sporting normality - or a stage where regional tensions become impossible to ignore - may be one of the tournament’s most consequential off-field storylines.