Mike Baker

What you don't see are the FBI command centers, counter drone systems, and Secret Service personnel preparing one of the largest Homeland Security operations in modern history.

Now, for those of you who aren't football or soccer fans, the scale of the tournament is unlike anything North America has ever seen.

The World Cup will stretch across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, featuring 48 national teams, 104 matches, and tens of thousands of vuvuzelas.

An estimated 7 million visitors are expected to travel to the U.S.

alone, while world leaders, foreign officials, and dignitaries move between 16 host cities across the three countries.

Now, hosting a World Cup is always a massive security undertaking, but here's what makes this one even more difficult.

For those tasked with securing the tournament, the challenge extends well beyond stadiums and crowds.

They're preparing at a moment when the U.S.

is involved in a conflict with Iran, drone warfare has transformed modern security, and artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities for disinformation.

As Andrew Giuliani, who's the executive director of Trump's World Cup task force, put it, "...there's never been a summer like this in American history from a security angle.

It's 78 Super Bowls over 39 days."

Overseeing the operation includes the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, local police departments, intelligence agencies, private security firms, and an expanding network of technology companies specializing in surveillance and counter-drone defense.

The FBI says it spent the past two years developing its security plan, incorporating lessons learned from New York City's Thanksgiving Day parade, you know, the one with all the big balloons, and New Year's celebrations.

Meanwhile, the Secret Service is preparing not only for visiting world leaders, but also potentially for President Trump, who's expressed interest in attending matches.

Officials say any presidential visit would be folded into the broader World Cup security operation.

Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen told Congress that officials view the tournament as a, quote, zero-fail mission.

Authorities are using large mobile X-ray systems, thousands of AI-powered surveillance cameras, specialized hunter drones capable of intercepting unauthorized aircraft, robotic security platforms that can inspect bags, and a range of other technologies.

But if you ask security officials what concerns them most, well, the answer isn't necessarily terrorism in the traditional sense.

It's drones.

Over the past several years, we've watched drones reshape the battlefield in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip, as well as in Iran, of course, and across its terror proxies.