Donald Trump announced on Friday that the official draw for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup will be held on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. The President of the United States even hinted that he might take part in the ceremony himself. He made the announcement in the Oval Office while standing beside FIFA president Gianni Infantino and vice president JD Vance.
The draw will play a very important role as it will set the 12 groups and the opening fixtures for the tournament. This will also be the first World Cup in history to feature 48 teams. Calling it “the biggest event in sports, maybe the biggest ever,” Trump wore a red cap that read Trump Was Right About Everything. Infantino compared the expanded competition to “104 Super Bowls.” Trump quickly added, “Some of them are even bigger than Super Bowls.”
The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with games spread across 16 cities. Eleven of those cities are in the United States, but Washington, D.C. is not one of the host venues. Because of that, the draw at the Kennedy Center will be the capital’s main connection to the tournament. “The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest and most complex event in the history of sports,” Trump said. “The Kennedy Center will provide a fantastic opening.”
The Kennedy Center is currently undergoing a 257 million dollar renovation. Trump has presented the venue not only as FIFA’s main base in the United States but also as a showpiece for the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations next year. Trump, who has restructured the Kennedy Center board and called himself its chair, described the place as “for winners only.”
The 2026 World Cup will begin on June 11 at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and will end on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. During the announcement, Infantino handed Trump a piece of gold and a giant ticket for the World Cup final with “Row 1, Seat 1” written on it. FIFA has also been strengthening its presence in the United States ahead of the tournament, opening new offices in Miami and inside Trump Tower in New York.