Kash Patel Reveals Chilling Illegal Drone Threat During World Cup and Praises FBI Effort Ensuring Tournament Was 'Safest Ever'
Kash Patel has revealed over 700 illegal drones over World Cup stadiums and fanzones were seized.
July 20 2026, Updated 3:16 p.m. ET
Over 700 illegal drones buzzing over packed World Cup stadiums and fanzones were seized by the FBI, according to Kash Patel.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Patel, 46, also claimed a further 1,600 were detected flying into restricted "no-fly" airspace around the games, highlighting the mammoth security threat which existed throughout the tournament — the largest sporting event in history.
'The Equivalent of 78 Super Bowls in 38 Days'
The tournament was so big, Patel compared it to 78 Super Bowls.
Millions of fans descended on 16 host cities across North America during the spectacle, which came to a conclusion on Sunday when Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time to be crowned world champions.
And to cope with the airborne safety concerns, the FBI deployed a fairly new form of defense designed to identify and neutralize drones flying into protected zones around stadiums and affiliated "fan fests."
Patel explained: "The 2026 FIFA World Cup was the largest sporting event in the history of the world, shattering previous attendance records by double digits."
"It was the equivalent of 78 Super Bowls in 38 days, along with 40 base camps, endless fan zones and celebrations in nearly every state," he added.
'Largest Resource Dedication the FBI Has Ever Made'
Patel described the seismic effort that went into making the tournament safe.
The FBI dedicated nearly 5,000 personnel across headquarters, field and international offices, as well as working alongside 50 other federal agencies and 400 state and local law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of fans and teams alike.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Patel said: "We stood up a Joint Ops Center, International Police Coordination Center, Intelligence Coordination Center, and more, all from scratch, to collect and share intel in live time."
Patel said the World Cup involved the "largest resource dedication the FBI ever made for any event," which was lauded by President Donald Trump, who praised the "spectacular success" of the tournament which he called "by far" the safest in the history of the World Cup.
'Spectacular SUCCESS!'
Trump championed the success of the tournament on Truth Social.
Taking to Truth Social on Monday, Trump, 80, wrote: "The World Cup turned out to be a spectacular SUCCESS! I want to thank all of those involved but, in particular, our GREAT Law Enforcement."
"The Respect that everyone has for them, together with their Love of our Country, kept this Great Championship the Safest and Most Spectacular World Cup in History, BY FAR!" he continued. "Thank you also to all others involved and, in particular, to young and dynamic Andrew Giuliani, working for the Government of the United States of America, and the fantastic President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, on a job well done!"
"Few people will ever be able to accomplish what he has done in elevating the World Cup to a level that nobody thought was possible. Congratulations to all!"
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The president was not happy at being booed while presenting medals, claim insiders.
Despite his championing of the World Cup, Radar told how Trump was privately seething over being booed during Sunday’s final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — and being snubbed by Argentina defender Cristian Romero while handing out winner and runner-up medals.
A source close to the situation told us: "Donald was absolutely fuming. He expected every player to acknowledge him on that stage, so Romero walking straight past without even making eye contact did not go unnoticed. After the reaction from the crowd, it felt like another public humiliation."
