WASHINGTON—Few things that happened onstage at the Kennedy Center on Friday afternoon could have overshadowed the official curtain-raiser for the world’s largest sporting event.
But ahead of the draw for next summer’s World Cup—to be held across North America—soccer authorities shifted the center of attention away from the 48 teams in the tournament to a man who once played the game for a season in high school: President Trump.
In the middle of a lavish, two-hour spectacle, the game’s world governing body awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, a hastily created distinction from the desk of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino presents United States President Donald Trump with the FIFA Peace Prize during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
“This is what we want from a leader, a leader that cares about the people,” said Infantino, who had previously pushed to keep politics out of his sport. “You can always count on my support—on the support of the entire soccer community.”
Trump, who has also campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, collected a trophy and a gold medal after a short video credited him with bringing about peace between Israel and Hamas, Congo and Rwanda, and for paving the way for a resolution to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Gianni and I were discussing this,” Trump said. “We’ve saved millions and millions of lives.”
Only once the FIFA Peace Prize was handed out did the draw move on to the actual World Cup—with a moment reserved for Infantino to take a selfie alongside Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The 48 teams were drawn into 12 groups, where every country will be guaranteed at least three games. The tournament will kick off with Mexico taking on South Africa in Mexico City on June 11, before the U.S. national team opens its campaign with matches against Paraguay, Australia, and one of Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.
Defending champion Argentina landed alongside Algeria, Austria, and Jordan while the closest thing to a so-called “Group of Death” will feature France, Senegal, Norway, and a team yet to be determined between Iraq, Bolivia, and Suriname.
“It’s not a normal draw,” Infantino said. “Because it’s in America, it has to be a show.”
North America doesn’t exactly have a long history of producing soccer legends, but Friday’s draw had no shortage of superstars from more familiar sports lending their fame and American relevance to proceedings. Hockey GOAT Wayne Gretzky, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, and the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal all joined Tom Brady, from the other kind of football, in making cameos to draw balls out of bowls.
Last time the World Cup came to these shores, in 1994, the draw was held in Las Vegas and Robin Williams stole the show by ad-libbing on stage. On Friday, the only improvisation seemed to come from Trump, who also used his acceptance speech to highlight FIFA’s early ticket sales for the tournament.
“The numbers are beyond any numbers that even Gianni thought possible,” Trump said. “I think you’re going to have an event the likes of which, maybe, the world has never seen.”
In one respect, at least, that was true. This will be the largest World Cup since the tournament’s creation in 1930, with a field expanded to 48 from 32. Held over the course of a month, it will see what Infantino described as “104 Super Bowls” played across 16 cities.
Six teams still need to be determined by a series of playoffs early in 2026. But of the 42 that are confirmed for next summer, five will be first-timers. That includes Cape Verde, Uzbekistan, and the island territory of Curaçao, which will become the smallest nation ever to make the cut with just 156,000 inhabitants. Curaçao’s reward is an opening match against Germany.
Still up in the air was how the U.S. would handle the arrival of qualified countries such as Haiti and Iran, who are currently subject to a travel ban. FIFA has assured them that players and staff would receive visas, but it’s likely that their fans won’t be able to enter the country.
Those concerns, however, seemed a long way from the pomp of Friday’s show, where even Trump bought into the promotion for the world’s favorite sport.
“This is football,” Trump said. “We have to come up with another name for the NFL stuff.”
