The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had its work cut out through the 2026 World Cup. With 104 football matches taking place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico over the course of 38 days, the World Cup was classed by the FBI as Special Event Assessment Rating Level One (SEAR One).Spain won the 2026 World CupGettyThis is the same classification as the NFL‘s Super Bowl and MLB World Series, which means that, by law, the Department of Homeland Security is required to provide support for them. For FBI Director Kash Patel, the first World Cup in 32 years to take place on American soil meant the task of providing security for the World Cup was the equivalent to 78 Super Bowls in just over a month.“That’s what we executed on,” FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital“We’re proud to report that, thank God, and thankfully to the men and women of the FBI and our partners, we had no significant criminal attacks during this World Cup.“And just to put that in perspective, we had 6.5 million people attend the 78 matches in the U.S. across 11 venues.”Attendance figures were shattered with an estimated seven million fans travelling to watch football’s spectacle. There were also more games than ever before due to the tournament’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams.The FBI reportedly dedicated almost 5,000 personnel to their security efforts, of which over 4,000 came from field offices, 800 from FBI headquarters and further support from 59 Homeland Security task forces. A huge part of their operations was to shut down the increase in drone threats, with the FBI revealing that they had seized over 700 drones ahead of the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, detecting over 1,600 in total.“If you’re in the space, we’re gonna take you down. And that’s why we took down over 700,” Patel stated. FBI director Kash Patel likened the World Cup to being like providing security for ’78 Super Bowls in 38 days’GettyThe FBI seized over 700 illegal drones during the World CupAFP“Some of these folks were maybe borderline nuisances, while many of them were criminal in terms of violations of FAA airspace and also failing to register their drones… We’re not taking any chances.“We, the FBI, specifically train for the worst of the worst,” Patel added, referring to the potential threat of drones being packed with explosives or chemical agents. This risk of threat was heightened when four men conspired in a targeted attack on the south lawn of the White House using drones at the ‘Freedom 250’ UFC event back in June. Patel praises Trump for his roleBut the operation for the World Cup also required assistance internationally, assembling a Joint Operations Center with foreign representatives from 46 of the 48 participating countries at the World Cup. “They’re working overseas in their home locations and giving us information back in real time on any single threat that’s coming in,” Patel said.In his interview with Fox News, Patel also thanked US President Donald Trump for his role in assembling the White House Task Force, spearheaded by Andrew Giuliani.Patel praised Trump for assembling the White House’s World Cup task forceAFP“Like anything in government, to succeed, you need tremendous leadership,” Patel said. “President Trump had the foresight to establish the White House Task Force… and what they were able to do was bring in the interagency, at least at the federal level, and then work with us at the state and local levels through our partnerships and put everybody under one roof. …“President Trump set the standard: Not only were we going to have the largest and safest sporting event in the history of the world, but we were going to make sure everyone had a great time. Those were the marching orders,” Patel said.“They wanted not just safety and security, but to show off America to the world. And I think we did it brilliantly.”Trump has already been vocal about wanting to hold the World Cup again, although as the sole host, and not with Canada or Mexico. The earliest time they would be able to host again would be 2038, with the 2030 edition taking place across World Cup winners Spain, Portugal and Morocco, while the 2034 tournament is due to be held in Saudi Arabia. Stay up to date across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET.