Donald Trump has confirmed that the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place at the Kennedy Center, hoping billions in revenue and millions of fans.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 draw ceremony will be held on December 5, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, and there’s a possibility that Trump might oversee the event himself.
On announcing the World Cup draw 2026, Trump said at the oval office, “It’s the biggest, probably the biggest event in sports, I guess.” He was also joined by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The U.S. is co-hosting next year’s tournament, which for the first time will feature 48 national teams, up from 32 with Canada and Mexico.
The draw event will determine the World Cup’s groups, and the games each team plays in the opening round.
FIFA president Infantino while speaking on the announcement, said the 78 teams will play “104 matches in one month and linked it to '104 Super Bowls'.”
Trump picked up on that theme, saying, "It's like having many Super Bowls in a short period of time, because each one of these games, essentially, is a Super Bowl. Some of them are bigger than Super Bowls, actually.”
The schedule
The World Cup kicks off June 11 at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and runs through the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Games will be played in 16 cities across the three countries, Washington D.C., is not among the host cities.
The choice of venue is interesting because Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center, taking the helm as chair and replacing the board of trustees with loyalists.
He has also indicated he’d like to see the venue renamed the Trump/Kennedy Center.
In December when the draw is held, 42 of the 48 teams will be known, including the automatic berths given to the United States, Mexico and Canada as hosts. The remaining six teams will be determined by playoffs in March next year.