March 5, 2026 — As the world counts down to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the University of Houston Law Center will convene international legal experts, policymakers and sports governance leaders for a timely exploration of the event’s far-reaching impact. The event, “From Kickoff to Consensus: The 2026 FIFA World Cup and North American Cross-Border Cooperation,” will examine how the global sports event is reshaping cross-border trade, labor standards, human rights oversight and regional cooperation across North America. This year’s FIFA competition will be the first men’s World Cup jointly co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
The two-day international symposium will be held March 13-14, 2026, in the John M. O’Quinn Law Building. It will focus on legal and institutional challenges created by multinational mega-events held at the same time as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) begins its critical five-year review, accompanied by trade and other negotiations.
“The 2026 FIFA World Cup is more than the largest sporting event ever hosted across three nations, it is a defining moment for sports governance in North America,” said Karen Jones, executive director of UHLC’s Global and Graduate Programs. “Mega-events expose how institutions actually function under pressure: how labor standards are enforced, how commercial rights are regulated, how governments coordinate across borders, and how human rights commitments move from principle to practice.”
Program Highlights
There will be a fireside chat “Law at the Center of the Game: FIFA, the World Cup and Cross Border Governance” with Lynn Carrillo from the FIFA Law Division and the keynote “From Global Governance to Local Implementation: FIFA’s Communication Strategy for the 2026 World Cup — The Mexican Perspective,” will be presented by Alejandra Márquez González, deputy coordinator with the Federal Government Coordination Office for FIFA Mexico. There will also be several presentations interspersed over the two days, offering in-depth analysis and discussions covering four key tracks:
Moderator: Karen Jones, UHLC
Moderator: Julian Cardenas, Director of the Center for U.S. and Mexican Law, UHLC
Moderator: Matt Mitten, Executive Director, National Sports Law Institute, Marquette University Law School
Moderator: Brian Michale Cooper, Greenberg-Traurig LLP
The goal of the event is to create a comprehensive forum to examine whether government structures, in sports and trade, are resilient, transparent and effective, Jones said. There will be plenty of networking opportunities during the two days.
“This symposium is for anyone invested in the future of global sport, international law, or North American cooperation, this is a conversation worth having — and a room worth being in,” Jones said.
WHAT: “From Kickoff to Consensus: The 2026 FIFA World Cup and North American Cross-Border Cooperation,” a two-day international symposium.
WHERE: The John M. O'Quinn Law Building, 4170 Martin Luther King Blvd., Houston, TX 77204.
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CT, March 13 and 14, 2026
For more information and to register, please visit: From Kickoff to Consensus: The 2026 FIFA World Cup and North American Cross-Border Cooperation
