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12/05 11:14 CST The Latest: 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is underway. See how the
group picks shake out
The Latest: 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is underway. See how the group picks shake
out
By The Associated Press
The draw ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway at the Kennedy Center
in Washington, D.C.
A record 48 teams will take part in this summer's tournament.
U.S. President Donald Trump is also attending the event, as are President
Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Here's the latest:
'Nessun Dorma' returns Andrea Bocelli kicked off the draw ceremony with a rendition of "Nessun Dorma" --- which actually has a connection to the World Cup because of its use as theme music by the BBC for the 1990 tournament in Italy. Whether the Italians are at the 2026 tournament, of course, remains to be determined. They must qualify through a European playoff next year. Trump says he'll meet with Canada, Mexico leaders after FIFA event "We are going to meet with both and we are getting along very well," Trump said of Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who are co-hosting next year's World Cup. Trump suggested that trade will be on the agenda for his talks with the leaders. Trump plays coy on whether he'll win inaugural FIFA peace prize FIFA announced the creation of a FIFA Peace Prize to be announced at today's Kennedy Center event that will "recognize exceptional actions for peace." But Trump says he doesn't know if he's going to receive the honor. "There's a rumor about it, but I have not been told," Trump said as he arrived at the Kennedy Center for the announcement of matchups for next year's World Cup. "That would be a great honor." He later, in another exchange with reporters, repeated his exaggerated claim that he has settled eight wars and "a ninth is coming." How we got here The qualifying process for the World Cup is a lengthy journey --- one that began on Sept. 7, 2023, and isn't even entirely finished yet. So far, 42 teams are assured spots in the 48-team field. Here are a few highlights from qualifying: -- Aside from the three hosts, which qualified automatically, Japan was the first team to wrap up a spot, doing so in March of this year. -- Four countries are set to make their World Cup debuts: Cape Verde, Curaao, Jordan and Uzbekistan. That number could increase when the final six teams earn spots in March's playoffs. -- Already, 16 teams have qualified that weren't part of the World Cup in 2022. Haiti is in for the first time since 1974. -- Ivory Coast, England and Tunisia qualified without allowing a goal. Draw features the leaders of Mexico and Canada, in addition to Trump Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is attending the World Cup draw --- the first time she's met face-to-face with Trump since he returned to the White House in January. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has met with Trump before, will also be on hand. But Trump and Carney haven't met since officials from all three countries began reviewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was negotiated during Trump's first term and replaced the NAFTA pact, which took effect in 1994. While no formal meetings have been scheduled, Trump may find time to talk tariffs and trade with both Sheinbaum and Carney. He also hasn't met with Canada's leader since clashing with Ontario over an ad criticizing U.S. tariff policy. Make room for the mascots Clutch the bald eagle, Zayu the jaguar and Maple the moose --- the three mascots of the 2026 World Cup --- have arrived for the draw. Clutch represents the U.S., Zayu represents Mexico and Maple represents Canada, the tournament's three host nations. For the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., a dog named Striker served as the mascot. A wintry vibe The last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup was in 1994. The draw for that tournament was in Las Vegas, a site that was also considered this time before the event was put at the Kennedy Center. That certainly made a difference in terms of the local weather. Attendees on Friday morning were greeted by a steady snowfall outside the Kennedy Center along the Potomac River. Although it's not soccer weather at the moment, the tournament isn't until June and July. At that point, heat will probably be the biggest issue, not snow. ? Read more: How heat played a role at the 2025 Club World Cup. Plenty of sports stars expected Although former England soccer captain Rio Ferdinand is running the draw, it will have a distinctly North American flavor. Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal, Wayne Gretzky and Aaron Judge will be on stage helping out. There is no Mexican sports representative, however. Brady is a co-investor with the ownership of Birmingham City, a second-tier English soccer team. Today's event has few recent parallels There are few recent parallels to the fervor that's about to descend on the Kennedy Center. When the U.S. last hosted the World Cup in 1994, the draw was held in Las Vegas and Bill Clinton, the president at the time, didn't attend. This week's lineup is a reminder that for Trump --- a two-term president, bestselling author and onetime reality television star --- his favorite role is that of a showman. And Trump's transformation of the Kennedy Center from one of Washington's relatively apolitical spaces into something of an extension of his White House affords him a natural stage. Trump will play a starring role in today's draw The U.S. president was instrumental in working with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to move the draw to the Kennedy Center after it was widely expected to take place in Las Vegas. FIFA may further recognize Trump at the event with a newly created peace prize. Infantino hasn't confirmed that Trump will be the recipient but the two have forged a notably close relationship and Trump has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize. On the same day last month that FIFA said it would issue the new award, Infantino called Trump a "close friend" who has "such an incredible energy." Will there still be a ?Group of Death'? The highest-ranked team that hasn't already qualified for this World Cup is four-time champion Italy, ranked No. 12 by FIFA. The Italians still have a chance to qualify via UEFA Playoff A, so teams will likely be hoping to avoid being in the same group with that pot 4 placeholder. In the past, World Cups have included a so-called "Group of Death" --- a group that seems unusually difficult following the luck of the draw. With more teams spread out across more groups --- and with the pots largely organized in descending order of FIFA rankings --- there might not be an obvious Group of Death this time around. But there is still substantial variance in the quality of teams that could come out of pot 4, which includes the four European playoff winners (which could include Italy and No. 21 Denmark) as well as No. 86 New Zealand and tiny World Cup newcomers Curacao and Cape Verde. Why the top teams might not face each other before the semifinals With 48 teams in the tournament, the top two in each group --- plus eight of the 12 third-place finishers --- will advance to the 32-team, single-elimination knockout round. The top four teams in the FIFA ranking --- Spain, Argentina, France and England --- will be drawn in such a way that, should they win their groups, they would not face each other before the semifinals. Other constraints during the draw include: --- Each group must have at least one European team, but no more than two. --- Aside from UEFA (Europe), no two teams from the same confederation can be in the same group. The other confederations are the AFC (Asia) and CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America) and the OFC (Oceania). How the draw works Balls corresponding with the competing countries will be separated into four pots of 12, and each group will include one team drawn from each pot. The pots are as follows, with each team's current FIFA ranking in parentheses. Pot 1 --- Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9), United States (14), Mexico (15), Canada (27). Pot 2 --- Croatia (10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26). Pot 3 --- Norway (29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Ivory Coast (42), Uzbekistan (60), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61). Pot 4 --- Jordan (66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curaao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), UEFA Playoff A, UEFA Playoff B, UEFA Playoff C, UEFA Playoff D, FIFA Playoff 1, FIFA Playoff 2. Six of the balls in pot 4 do not correspond with any specific country. That's because six spots at the World Cup won't be determined until March. Four European teams will qualify via the UEFA playoffs, and the additional two FIFA playoffs will include teams from all over the world. The host countries --- the U.S., Mexico and Canada --- are allowed into pot 1. That's a significant perk because it means they avoid being in a group with several of the tournament's top teams. The draw will begin at noon EST at the Kennedy Center The tournament --- hosted next year by the United States, Mexico and Canada --- is expanding from 32 teams to 48. The draw will separate them into 12 groups of four. The 12 round-robin World Cup groups are designated Group A, Group B ... and so on, down to Group L. It has already been predetermined that Mexico will be in Group A, Canada in Group B and the U.S. in Group D. There will be a full reveal of game times set for Saturday. |
