WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
He made the announcement with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Vice President JD Vance during an event in the Oval Office.
The U.S. is co-hosting the tournament next year with Canada and Mexico. The draw at the Kennedy Center will determine the World Cup's groups, and the games each team plays in the opening round.
Toronto and Vancouver are the tournament’s Canadian host cities, with six games scheduled for Toronto’s BMO Field and seven at Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium.
Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center, installing himself as chair and replacing the board of trustees with loyalists. He’s also hinted he’d like to see the venue renamed the Trump/Kennedy Center.
Asked if he might be the one drawing team names to determine who they will play, Trump suggested that might not be a bad idea, and Infantino seemed to agree — though that part hasn't yet been determined.
In an unusual move, Infantino also brought the World Cup trophy with him to the Oval Office.
It’s a superstition nearly as old as the World Cup itself: players on national teams around the globe believe that touching the trophy before their team actually wins the tournament on the field can spark bad luck.
Even Infantino noted that the trophy is “for winners only,” but then he added to Trump, “And, since you are a winner, of course you can as well.”
The president did just that, remarking, “It’s pretty heavy.”
He later called the trophy “a beautiful piece of gold” and joked about keeping it and displaying it in the Oval Office, which Trump has redone in a gaudy, gold-hued decor.
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Will Weissert, The Associated Press
