US President Donald Trump will play a key role in the highest-profile World Cup draw in FIFA history.
Published on December 3, 2025
The Draw for 2026 World Cup – the biggest ever edition of football’s global showpiece – takes place in Washington on Friday, with US President Donald Trump expected to feature prominently in the proceedings.
The 48-team tournament – expanded from the 32 countries that took part in the 2022 Qatar World Cup – will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 next year.
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Trump’s presence at the Kennedy Center ceremony – the White House confirmed on Tuesday – underscores his relationship with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, who has made several visits to the White House and even Trump joined the international summit In the years since the joint North American bid for the tournament was awarded in 2018.
Infantino’s close ties to Trump are expected to see the US leader’s name drawn as the first recipient of the new FIFA Peace Prize.
Trump has made the World Cup a centerpiece of both his second term as president and the 250th anniversary of America’s independence next year.
But he did not hesitate to bring domestic politics into the event, threatening to move World Cup matches from democratically-run cities if he deemed the situation “unsafe”.
In a sign of global tensions surrounding the World Cup, which has 11 of the 16 venues in the US, Iran said it would boycott the draw Because US authorities refused visas to several members of their delegation.
The president of the Iran Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, said: “We have told the FIFA chief … that this is a purely political position and FIFA should ask (Washington) to refrain from this behavior.”
First time qualifier
Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina will look to win a third title in Qatar in 2022 in 12 groups.
Argentina, host nation USA, Mexico and Canada, record five-time winners Brazil, two-time champions France, four-time winners Germany, as well as Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands and Belgium are the top seeds.
The evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be 41 when the tournament kicks off, has said his sixth World Cup final with Portugal will be relished in his long career to secure his country’s first World Cup title.
The expanded artist list means opportunities for a handful of first-time qualifiers, including the tiny Caribbean nation of Cape Verde, Jordan and Curacao.
with Six arenas are still to be decided in the playoffsFavorites Italy, who most recently won the World Cup in 2006 but have not qualified since 2014, are to be avoided.
Despite an error-filled qualifying campaign, the Italians could still win two sudden-death games to reach the final.
The inaugural match will be held at Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, which hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals, before the tournament kicks off about six weeks with the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Due to the complexity, teams will only learn full details of their match venues and kickoff times on Saturday, a day after the draw.
Supporters’ groups have warned that FIFA’s decision to use dynamic ticket prices could leave fans facing eye-watering prices for tickets to the most lucrative games.
Prices on popular secondary market websites in the US, such as StubHub and SeatGeek, have already skyrocketed, with prices for the July 19 World Cup final in New Jersey starting at around $7,000.
