Donald Trump’s attendance at FIFA World Cup 2026 draw confirmed

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US President Donald Trump volition play a cardinal portion successful 1 of the highest-profile World Cup draws successful FIFA history.

Published On 3 Dec 2025

The draw for the 2026 World Cup – the biggest variation of football’s planetary showpiece ever held – takes spot successful Washington connected Friday, with US President Donald Trump expected to diagnostic prominently successful proceedings.

The expanded 48-team tourney – up from the 32-nation tract that competed astatine the 2022 Qatar World Cup – volition beryllium played crossed the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 adjacent year.

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Trump’s attendance – confirmed by the White House connected Tuesday – astatine the Kennedy Center ceremonial underscores his rapport with FIFA main Gianni Infantino, who has made respective visits to the White House and adjacent joined Trump astatine planetary summits successful the years since the associated North American bid was awarded the tourney successful 2018.

Infantino’s adjacent narration with Trump is wide expected to spot the US person beryllium named arsenic the archetypal recipient of a caller FIFA Peace Prize, which volition beryllium awarded astatine the draw.

Trump has made the World Cup a centrepiece lawsuit of some his 2nd presidency and the 250th day of US independency adjacent year.

But helium has not hesitated to bring home authorities into the event, threatening to determination World Cup matches from Democratic-run cities if helium deems conditions to beryllium “unsafe”.

In a motion of the planetary tensions surrounding a World Cup which volition person 11 of its 16 venues successful the US, Iran said it volition boycott the draw due to the fact that US authorities refused to assistance visas to respective members of its delegation.

The president of the Iranian shot federation, Mehdi Taj, said: “We person told the caput of FIFA … that it is purely a governmental presumption and that FIFA indispensable archer (Washington) to desist from this behaviour.”

First-time qualifiers

The pretenders to the title, which a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina won for the 3rd clip successful 2022 successful Qatar, volition beryllium drawn into 12 groups.

The apical seeds are Argentina, the big nations USA, Mexico and Canada, grounds five-time winners Brazil, two-time champions France, four-time winners Germany, arsenic good arsenic Spain, England, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo, who volition beryllium 41 erstwhile the tourney kicks off, has said his sixth World Cup finals with Portugal volition beryllium his last, and helium would relish crowning his agelong vocation with a archetypal planetary rubric for his country.

The enlarged formed database besides means an accidental for a fistful of first-time qualifiers, including Cape Verde, Jordan and the tiny Caribbean federation of Curacao.

With six of the tract inactive to beryllium decided successful playoffs, the favourites volition privation to debar Italy, who won the World Cup arsenic precocious arsenic 2006 but person not qualified since 2014.

Despite an error-strewn qualification campaign, the Italians tin inactive scope the finals by winning 2 sudden-death games.

The opening lucifer volition beryllium held astatine the Azteca Stadium successful Mexico City, which besides hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals, earlier the tourney unfolds implicit astir six weeks, culminating successful the last astatine the MetLife Stadium successful New Jersey.

Because of the complexity, teams volition lone larn the afloat details of their lucifer venues and kickoff times connected Saturday, a time aft the draw.

Supporters’ groups person warned fans could look eye-watering sums for tickets for the astir charismatic games owed to FIFA’s determination to usage dynamic summons pricing.

Prices connected fashionable secondary marketplace websites successful the US, specified arsenic StubHub and SeatGeek, person already skyrocketed, with prices for the July 19 World Cup last successful New Jersey starting astatine astir $7,000.