For Americans, the biggest fear is Trump overshadowing the tournament or immigration enforcement controversies
Canadians and Mexicans are more focused on prices and costs, particularly that tickets, travel and hotels will simply be too expensive for ordinary fans.
Then there is the small matter of whether people actually like the sport.
In Mexico, 70% say they regularly watch or play.
In the USA and Canada, it is closer to one in five (22% and 24%), trailing the NFL, basketball and ice hockey. They are, for the most part, not soccer countries.
Americans are split on what they want from the World Cup, with no single goal commanding the room.
Canadians and Mexicans are clearer, and top of both their lists is boosting the national economy
Mexicans also want to show off their culture to the world
Mexicans are most relaxed about Iran, though Americans and Canadians still lean in favour
Mexicans are keenest on Mamdani-style discounts for local residents
Canadians are most insistent FIFA foots bill for hosting and most sceptical tournament is worth it if costs overrun
When asked how excited they are about the World Cup, soccer fans are excited, scoring around 8/10 on average in all three.
Problem for US and Canada is there are not many of them. Among vast majority here who do not follow soccer, excitement drops sharply to 3.7 in US and 2.6 in Canada
Open wide for some soccer!
At @focaldata.bsky.social we ran a poll of 1,500 people across the three host nations to find out what they make of one another, how excited they are about the World Cup, what they want to get out of hosting it, and what they think about its controversies
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Americans rate the current state of relations with Canada positively and see those with Mexico as roughly neutral.
However, Canadians are very gloomy about the state of relations with the USA, and Mexicans lean negative on the same question too.
Not the ideal backdrop for the tournament
