The Albany Gazette - World Cup draw starts countdown to 2026 finals with Trump presiding

The most logistically complex World Cup in history will be held across North America from June 11 to July 19, with 16 more teams added to the global showpiece, up from the 32 nations involved in Qatar in 2022.

Friday's ceremony, at the Kennedy Center on the banks of the Potomac River, will be a star-studded event but Trump will take centre stage.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has developed a close relationship with Trump, including making several visits to the White House.

Now the US President is widely expected to be the first ever recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded during the draw ceremony, "to recognize the enormous efforts of those individuals who unite people, bringing hope for future generations," as Infantino put it.

Even the choice of draw venue is a nod to Trump, who earlier this year installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center, a performing arts venue opened in the early 1970s.

Holding the draw there also means the US capital gets to play an active role in the World Cup itself having been overlooked as a match venue.

The ceremony will be co-hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum and American actor and comedian Kevin Hart, and will feature performances by Village People, Andrea Bocelli and Robbie Williams.

NFL legend Tom Brady, ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky and former NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal will be among the stars helping to conduct the draw.

Trump has made the World Cup a centerpiece event of both his second presidency and the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.

But he has not hesitated to inject domestic politics into the preparations, threatening to move World Cup matches from Democratic-run cities if he deems conditions to be "unsafe".

"I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who's phenomenal, and I would say, let's move it to another location. And he would do that," Trump said recently.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will also be in attendance at the ceremony.

Eleven of the 16 World Cup venues are in the United States, with three in Mexico and two in Canada.

- Iran U-turn -

The political element to the draw saw Iran vow to boycott the ceremony because the United States refused to grant visas to several members of its delegation.

Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj denounced the USA's decision as "purely political". Iran subsequently announced on Wednesday that it would now send representatives, including head coach Amir Ghalenoei.

Lionel Messi's Argentina are the reigning champions after winning the World Cup for the third time in Qatar in 2022.

They will be among the top seeds along with European champions Spain, record five-time winners Brazil, France, Germany, England, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium. The three host nations complete the first pot of seeds.

The decision to expand the tournament has also cleared the way for several first-time qualifiers, including Cape Verde, Jordan and Curacao.

- 'Monster' -

But it is not to everyone's liking -- "The monster has been unleashed," is how former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter described the 48-team format in an interview with CBS.

The teams will be split into 12 groups of four, with the top two from each advancing alongside the eight best third-placed sides to the last 32.

For the first time, the draw will be done so as to ensure the four highest-ranked nations are kept apart -- Spain, Argentina, France and England will not be able to meet before the semi-finals, if all four top their groups.

Six places at the finals are still to be decided in playoffs, the winners of which will be among the bottom seeds -- the favourites will therefore want to avoid Italy, World Cup winners as recently as 2006 but who failed to qualify for the last two tournaments.

The opening match will be held at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, before the tournament unfolds over nearly six weeks, culminating in the final at the MetLife Stadium just outside New York City.

Because of the complexity, teams will only learn the full details of their match venues and kickoff times on Saturday, a day after the draw.

(R.White--TAG)