FIFA has reversed its position on the use of Spanish at World Cup 2026 press conferences, allowing journalists and participants to ask and answer questions in Spanish at all official media events regardless of which national teams are involved.
The change follows several incidents during the opening days of the tournament in which journalists were told they could not use Spanish because translation services for the language were not available at certain press conferences.
FIFA has not issued a formal public announcement, but media organizations covering the tournament, such as El Pais, confirmed that Spanish translation was added to the list of available languages beginning this weekend.
The controversy first emerged ahead of Brazil's match against Morocco in New Jersey. During a press conference, Mexican journalist Rodrigo Ornelas attempted to ask Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi a question in Spanish. A FIFA moderator intervened, explaining that Spanish questions were not permitted because no interpreter was available to translate the exchange for other reporters and broadcasters.
Although Hakimi, who was born and raised in Madrid, indicated he could understand and speak Spanish, he was ultimately directed to respond in English.
A similar situation occurred when Spanish journalist Sergio Quirante began asking Brazil forward Vinicius Junior a question in English. Vinicius encouraged him to speak in Spanish, but FIFA officials maintained that Spanish was not among the authorized languages for that session.
Yet another incident involved Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who said he had no issue responding in Spanish when approached by a Mexican reporter, only for the exchange to be halted because translation services were unavailable.
Under FIFA's original protocol, questions could be asked in English and in the official languages of the two teams participating in a match. Additional languages could be requested by national federations. As a result, Spanish was generally permitted only when Spanish-speaking teams such as Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador or Paraguay were involved.
The restrictions drew criticism from journalists and fans, particularly because Mexico is one of the tournament's three host countries and Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States. Mexican sports journalist José Ramón Fernández criticized the policy on X, writing:
"The 2026 World Cup calls for diversity, yet at the press conferences for Brazil and Morocco, questions in Spanish—the official language of the host country and spoken by millions in North America—were not even permitted. It's incomprehensible."
El Mundial 2026 presume diversidad, pero una rueda de prensa de Brasil y Marruecos no permitieron preguntas en español, Idioma oficial de uno de los países sede y hablado por millones en Norteamérica. Incomprensible. pic.twitter.com/NxlDu76xHR
— José Ramón Fernández (@joserra_espn) June 14, 2026
