Mitchell Hartman

And even if they are, that doesn't guarantee they'll be permitted to enter the U.S.

U.S.

immigration officials plan to start vetting the social media histories of foreign visitors soon, which could discourage some from coming to the U.S.,

And four countries in the World Cup face restrictions or an outright ban on the issuance of U.S.

tourist visas.

So visiting will be nearly impossible for fans of Haiti, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and Iran.

Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime.

Iran plays its first two matches in Los Angeles, home to the country's largest Iranian-American community.

Nazarian says the ban on Iranian fans coming from abroad is complicated.

All of this tightening of U.S.

immigration has Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimblist thinking FIFA's predicted $30 billion economic payoff is a pipe dream.

And Zimla says there are likely to be far fewer foreign visitors without tickets ready to take on the U.S.

immigration bureaucracy to get close to the games.

I'm Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.

Gold has been edging ever higher partly because investor stress has, says Samir Samana at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

tariffs and trade wars, geopolitical tensions in oil-producing regions, rising government debt across everywhere.

Foreign central banks have been buying up gold, too.

That's partly a defensive move.

A hostile government can slap on sanctions, but it can't seize gold out of another country's vaults.

The trend took off after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.