US President Donald Trump will play a key role in the draw for the most-watched World Cup in FIFA history.
Published December 3, 2025
The draw for the 2026 World Cup, soccer’s biggest global show ever held, will be held in Washington on Friday, with US President Donald Trump expected to feature prominently in the draw.
The tournament, which has been expanded to 48 teams from the 32 countries participating in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 next year.
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President Trump’s attendance at the Kennedy Center ceremony, which was confirmed by the White House on Tuesday, underscores his close friendship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has visited the White House and participated with President Trump at international summits over the years since the joint North American bid was decided in 2018.
Mr Infantino’s close relationship with Mr Trump has led to widespread expectations that the US leader will be named the first recipient of the new FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded by lottery.
President Trump has made the World Cup the highlight of both his second presidential term and next year’s 250th anniversary of American independence.
But he has not shied away from bringing domestic politics into the convention, threatening to move World Cup matches from Democratic-run cities if he deems conditions “unsafe.”
In a sign of global tensions surrounding the World Cup, where 11 of the 16 venues will be held in the United States, Iran announced it would boycott the draw after U.S. authorities refused to issue visas to several members of the delegation.
“We told the FIFA president that this is a purely political position and that FIFA must instruct (Washington) to stop this act,” Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj said.
First qualifier
The challengers for the Lionel Messi-inspired title, which Argentina won for the third time in Qatar in 2022, will be divided into 12 groups.
The top seeds are Argentina, hosts USA, Mexico, Canada, five-time champion Brazil, two-time champion France, four-time champion Germany, as well as Spain, England, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be 41 when the tournament begins, said his sixth World Cup final against Portugal would be his last and said he would be delighted to cap a long career with his country’s first world title.
The expanded cast list also means opportunities for a small number of first-time contestants, including Cape Verde, Jordan and the small Caribbean nation of Curaçao.
With six of the qualifying teams yet to qualify for the playoffs, favorites will want to avoid Italy, which won the World Cup in 2006 but hasn’t qualified since 2014.
Despite making many mistakes in the preliminary rounds, the Italians can advance to the finals if they win two sudden death games.
The opening game will be held at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, which also hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals, and the tournament will then unfold over approximately six weeks, culminating in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Due to the complexity, teams will only learn details of the match venue and kickoff time on Saturday, the day after the draw.
Supporters’ organizations have warned that FIFA’s decision to adopt dynamic ticket pricing could mean fans could face shocking prices for tickets to the most attractive matches.
Prices on popular U.S. secondary market websites such as StubHub and SeatGeek are already soaring, with prices starting at around $7,000 for the World Cup finals in New Jersey on July 19th.
