NEW YORK — President Donald Trump will present the World Cup trophy to the winner of Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain. But for him, the real winner of the main soccer tournament could be the United States.

“We turned out to be a soccer country and I think we will continue to be a soccer country,” Trump said Friday at a FIFA reception at Trump Tower in New York City. “This has really brought the world together.”

For the White House, Sunday’s game is the culmination of more than a year of navigating a litany of logistical challenges alongside co-hosts Canada and Mexico in what would be the largest World Cup in history. He had to balance the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies that barred fans from some countries qualifying for the World Cup from entering the United States.

The White House faced warnings from human rights groups and the tournament faced backlash over high ticket prices. For months, Trump flirted with the idea of ​​moving the games out of cities that were not cooperating with federal immigration authorities, and in the weeks before the tournament began, local authorities clashed with FIFA over high transit costs, further raising tensions.

As the first games prepared to begin, the administration continued to find itself under global scrutiny for its visa decisions, such as denying entry to a referee from Somalia who had won praise for his officiating. Pressure mounted after Trump launched a war against Iran, leaving the administration to deal with an Iranian team whose fans and some support staff were banned from entering the United States, and who were ultimately based across the border in Tijuana.

But the broader story of the World Cup eventually changed. Social media was flooded with stories of soccer fans around the world enjoying America’s delicacies and traditions, from beer to ranch dressing. Some fears about the Trump administration that circulated before, such as the threat of immigration raids near the games, never materialized.

“One of the things we talked about beforehand was that if we talk about what happened on the field, then we’ve done our job,” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But I think it’s even better than that. We’re not just talking about the incredible athletic feats on the field, we’re talking about all these incredible cultural moments.”

Still, Trump created controversy with a phone call he made to FIFA chief Gianni Infantino earlier this month in which he asked for a review of a controversial referee’s decision in the U.S. team’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The referee gave a red card to American star striker Folarin Balogun, meaning he would not be able to play in the next match against Belgium.

Trump says he simply asked Infantino, who has reached out to the US president and faced backlash for doing so, to review the call. FIFA then reversed the decision, and Trump told Infantino at the FIFA reception on Friday that “you made another great decision, if you think about it,” because it allowed the United States to keep a key player on the field even though the team lost the match to Belgium 4-1.

Giuliani said the administration had a “duty” to ask questions and raise concerns about the officiating process, which drew scrutiny due to the use of video review and slow-motion replay to issue the red card. He noted that the Trump administration invested billions in federal funds to ensure the World Cup was “not just a safe event, not just a place where we welcomed the world, but an event full of integrity.”

The Trump administration was under considerable pressure to stage a successful World Cup because the United States will soon host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

The United States is also expected to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup, although Giuliani said in the AP interview that part of landing those hosting gigs will be “ensuring that, in fact, women and only women play in that 2031 Women’s World Cup,” alluding to the Trump administration’s fierce opposition to transgender women’s participation in women’s sports.

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., a self-proclaimed World Cup superfan whose home state will host Sunday’s final, noted that logistics for the tournament have gone largely smoothly, aside from occasional hiccups on some issues such as transit to the games.

But “overall, the joy that people have, the excitement that they have, has dramatically outweighed” any disadvantages, said Kim, who has been eagerly watching the games with her two young children for the past few weeks.

The United States also faced broader tensions with its World Cup co-hosts Canada and Mexico. Trump announced strong tariffs on both countries upon his return to the White House and has chosen not to renew a trade pact between the three countries, starting a new period of negotiations.

On Friday, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canada over its wildfires, which have affected air quality in parts of the United States, including northern New Jersey, where the World Cup final is being held. He joked Friday that FIFA should pick the United States again soon for the World Cup and that “this time we’ll leave out Mexico and Canada.”

Still, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney plan to attend the final at Trump’s request, in a sign that soccer can overcome some geopolitical tensions.

“I received an invitation from President Trump to attend the World Cup final on Sunday and I decided to go because it is a direct invitation from the president of the United States,” Sheinbaum said. “Prime Minister Carney will also be present.”

Trump, as is customary among heads of state who organize the tournament, will present the trophy to the eventual winner. But he has not said publicly if he has a favorite team.

Spain is a known irritant to Trump, due to its reluctance to meet NATO defense spending targets and its refusal to allow the United States to launch attacks against Iran from its bases. Meanwhile, Argentine President Javier Milei is a favorite of the Trump administration, with the US president even threatening to cut aid to the country if Milei’s coalition did not prevail in the legislative elections.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez plans to attend the game, although Milei, citing superstition, will stay home.

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Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.