WASHINGTON (Kashmir English): The draw for the 2026 Football World Cup would take place here on Friday with US President Donald Trump expected to feature prominently in proceedings.
The next year’s event is the biggest edition of football’s global showpiece ever held with 48 teams taking part in the global event.
The expanded 48-team tournament — up from the 32-nation field that competed at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — will be played across the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 next year.
President Trumps potential appearance at the Kennedy Center ceremony underscores his rapport with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, who has made several visits to the White House.
Infantino’s close ties with Trump is widely expected to see Trump be named as the first recipient of a new FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded at the draw.
The US leader has made the tournament a centerpiece event of both his second presidency and the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.
In a sign of the global tensions surrounding a World Cup which will have 11 of its 16 venues in the US, Iran had announced to boycott the draw because US authorities refused to grant visas to several members of its delegation.
The president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, said: “We have told the head of FIFA… that it is purely a political position and that FIFA must tell (Washington) to desist from this behaviour.”
However, in a complete reversal of the earlier decision to boycott the event over visa issues, Iran on Wednesday said it would now send representatives to the World Cup finals draw in Washington.
“Amir Ghalenoei, head coach of Iran’s national team, will participate in the World Cup draw ceremony as the technical representative of the national football team with one or two other people,” state television quoted the Iranian Football Federation spokesperson as having said.
On Friday, the spokesperson had said that they had informed FIFA about the Iranian delegation not participating in the ceremony as the United States refused to grant visa to several members of Iranian delegation.
First-time qualifiers
The aspirants to the title will be drawn into 12 groups. It is worth noting here that a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina had won the tournament for the third time in 2022 in Qatar.
The top seeds are Argentina, the host nations USA, Mexico and Canada, record five-time winners Brazil, two-time winners France, four-time champions Germany as well as Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands and Belgium.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo will be 41 when the tournament kicks off. He has announced that his sixth World Cup finals with Portugal will be his last and he would relish crowning his long career with a first global title for his country.
Opening game of the World Cup
The opening match of the event will be held at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, which also hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals. The tournament will run over nearly six weeks, culminating in the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Teams will only learn the full details of their match venues and kickoff times on Saturday, a day after the draw.
