By WILL WEISSERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump stated Friday that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will happen on Dec. 5 on the Kennedy Center in Washington, and didn’t rule out that he himself may oversee the occasion.
“It’s the largest, most likely the largest occasion in sports activities, I suppose,” stated Trump, who made the announcement in an Oval Workplace occasion the place he was joined by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Vice President JD Vance.
The U.S. is co-hosting subsequent yr’s event — which for the primary time will function 48 nationwide groups up from 32 — with Canada and Mexico. The draw occasion will decide the World Cup’s teams, and the video games every workforce performs within the opening spherical.
Infantino stated the 48 groups will play “104 matches in a single month” and likened it to “104 Tremendous Bowls.” Trump picked up on that theme, saying, “It’s like having many Tremendous Bowls in a brief time period, as a result of every considered one of these video games, primarily, is a Tremendous Bowl. A few of them are larger than Tremendous Bowls, truly.”
The World Cup kicks off June 11 on the Azteca Stadium in Mexico Metropolis and runs by the ultimate on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Video games can be performed in 16 cities throughout the three nations. Washington, D.C., is just not among the many host cities.
Trump stated that the Kennedy Heart “will give an exceptional kickoff and we’ll be concerned.” Requested if he’d be the one truly drawing the workforce names, Trump didn’t reply straight however deferred to Infantino, saying the FIFA chief “was the boss.”
Infantino stated, “It’s a really attention-grabbing proposal,” and he indicated that he and Trump would talk about the matter additional.
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President Donald Trump, left, shakes the hand of FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the conclusion of an announcement within the Oval Workplace of the White Home, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photograph/Jacquelyn Martin)
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President Donald Trump, left, shakes the hand of FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the conclusion of an announcement within the Oval Workplace of the White Home, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photograph/Jacquelyn Martin)
The selection of venue is attention-grabbing as a result of Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center, putting in himself as chair and changing the board of trustees with loyalists. He’s additionally hinted he’d wish to see the venue renamed the Trump/Kennedy Heart.
There had been hypothesis for months that the draw can be held in Las Vegas. The occasion is historically a mixture of leisure and the enterprise of dividing the groups into 12 teams of 4 for the opening stage of the event. When america held the World Cup in 1994, the draw was held on the Las Vegas Conference Heart and Stevie Marvel was among the many performers.
In December when the draw is held, 42 of the 48 groups can be recognized, together with the automated berths given to america, Mexico and Canada as hosts. The remaining six groups can be decided by playoffs in March.
The president additionally used Friday’s FIFA announcement to boast about his deploying the National Guard and federalizing Washington’s police force.
“So now, when we’ve this stunning occasion in December, it’s going to be very protected,” Trump stated. He added that the FIFA chief “can stroll down the road together with your stunning spouse. You possibly can take her to dinner, if you may get a reservation.”
Requested about followers abroad acquiring U.S. visas to come back watch their groups within the World Cup, Trump at first stated the method can be a easy one, however then added, “Sure nations are going to be very, very straightforward, and different nations are going to be clearly slightly bit harder.”
A journey ban that the Trump administration imposed in June contains Iran, which has certified for the World Cup. The coverage makes exceptions for “any athlete or member of an athletic workforce, together with coaches, individuals performing a obligatory help position, and speedy kin, touring for the World Cup, Olympics, or different main sporting occasion as decided by the secretary of state.” It doesn’t embody an exemption for followers.
In an uncommon transfer, Infantino additionally introduced the World Cup trophy with him to the Oval Workplace. It’s a superstition almost as previous because the World Cup itself: gamers on nationwide groups across the globe imagine that touching the trophy earlier than their workforce truly wins the event on the sphere can spark dangerous luck.
Even Infantino famous that the trophy is “for winners solely,” however then he added to Trump, “And, since you’re a winner, after all you’ll be able to as properly.”
The president did simply that, calling the trophy “a wonderful piece of gold” and joking about maintaining it and displaying it within the Oval Workplace, which Trump has redone in a gaudy, gold-hued decor.
“It matches very properly proper on the wall over there,” Trump stated.
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