Patel reveals hidden security nightmare looming over massive World Cup crowds

FBI Director Kash Patel outlined a number of security concerns ahead of the World Cup, which will attract millions of visitors in North America, including cyber threats, drones and the potential for lone wolf attacks.

Authorities expect 3 million people to visit the tournament, which will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico. Of the 104 total matches in the expanded 2026 World Cup, 78 will be played in the United States, with the remaining 26 matches split between its neighbors to the north and south.

Host countries are aggressively stepping up security and intelligence operations to safely stage much-anticipated football matches in 11 US host cities.

“We’re moving away from traditional police work to going out on the streets and talking to communities and saying, ‘Hey, do you know of any bad actors? Have you heard of anyone who might want to harm people or places?'” Patel told Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor. So, that’s everything.” “That’s our big security goal for the FBI.”

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In an effort to thwart lone wolf actors, the FBI established a special operations center at its headquarters to centralize and analyze incoming data about potential threats.

“When we talk about cyber actors, they are [are ones] They come in and hack our infrastructure and hold data hostage for monetary payments. So we’re bringing all of that information into one place and centralizing it, at least for the FBI, in our hub component,” Patel said.

Patel added that apart from major nation-state adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, lone wolf threats pose the biggest concern to national security.

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“Separate and distinct from it, [those] “Whether it’s in the cyber realm or in the realm of violent crime, different actors or different actors engaging in similar activities are the lone wolves that are out there,” he said. “So we rely heavily on the community and the local people of the state, and we ask them over and over again: ‘What do you see in online spaces? What do you see in chat groups?'”

Law enforcement also focuses heavily on combating online radicalization by individuals who feel compelled to carry out domestic attacks, Patel said.

While the draw for the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers begins on December 13, 2024, the winning trophy of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is on display at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu)

Drones are another top concern for federal officials because they vary widely in size and can be easily operated by a pilot far from the target location.

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“The critical component we focus on as the FBI is teaching our state and local partners how we handle drones and how they can handle drones with us,” Patel said. “And collectively, having thousands of people there, tens of thousands of police officers looking at the incoming drone threat, it’s a force multiplier because it’s so fast and dynamic.”

To counter this, Patel explained that the FBI is developing technology that can disable problematic drones in flight, a tool it has shared with local law enforcement partners during recent special training programs.

One image shows the Justice Department and FBI headquarters and FBI Director Kash Patel. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Among the immediate domestic threats the FBI is tracking is a sharp increase in anti-Semitic violence. Patel noted the recent Hezbollah-inspired attack on a synagogue in Michigan; where a man filled his pickup truck with gasoline and commercial-grade fireworks, crashed into the building, and opened fire with an assault rifle before taking his own life during a shootout with the temple’s private security detail.

In the 14 months since the Trump administration took office, the FBI has arrested more than 45,000 violent criminals in an aggressive drive to dismantle secret sleeper cells and violent networks across the country.

A general view of Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., ahead of the 2026 World Cup on May 11, 2026. (Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images)

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The bureau also touted its recent success rate in pursuing high-profile international targets.

“The FBI arrested eight of the first ten [most wanted fugitives] Patel stated that this figure indicates two times more large captures than the total of the previous four years, and said, “We will reach the whole world within 14 months.”