2026 World Cup Draw: Washington D.C. will be the host
The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on December 5. This was announced on Friday by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
“It’s the biggest event, probably the biggest event in sports, I guess,” Trump said.
Donald Trump
The 2026 event will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. It will be the first World Cup organized by three nations and also the first with the expansion to 48 teams.
Sixteen venues have already been chosen to host the matches, with 11 in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.
Details on how to request tickets for the 2026 World Cup.
Everything you need to know one year before the 2026 World Cup.
Who has qualified and how the rest can achieve it?
The draw, which according to Infantino will take place at noon, Eastern Time, will see the 48 qualified teams divided into 12 groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group, plus the eight best third-placed teams, will advance to the knockout phase.
Infantino said that the 48 teams will play “104 matches in a month” and compared 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 of these games, essentially, is a Super Bowl. Some of them are bigger than the Super Bowls, actually.”
The president also used FIFA’s announcement on Friday to talk about the deployment of the National Guard and the federalization of Washington’s police force.U.S. President Donald Trump received a ticket to the 2026 World Cup final from FIFA President Gianni Infantino during Friday’s announcement in the Oval Office.
Following the announcement of the draw, Infantino gave Trump a ticket to next year’s World Cup final, which, according to the FIFA president, was the first ticket available for the next tournament.
Ticket requests for the 2026 World Cup open on September 10. FIFA said that due to anticipated high demand, tickets will be released in phases.
In an unusual move, Infantino also took the World Cup trophy to the Oval Office.
