Washington: US President Donald Trump will attend the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Kennedy Centre Friday, the White House said.
The United States will co-host the 2026 tournament alongside Canada and Mexico. Following the draw ceremony, FIFA will unveil the updated match schedule for the 2026 World Cup.
“On Friday, President Trump will attend the FIFA World Cup final draw at the Kennedy Center,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing.
The Final Draw will bring together coaches and officials from all qualified teams, and those still in contention Friday (local time) at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, where they will discover their opponents in pursuit of ultimate glory.
The Final Draw procedures stipulate that the hosts, Canada, Mexico, and the USA, will be allocated to pot 1, and the 39 remaining qualified teams will be allocated to the four pots of 12 teams each according to the FIFA Men’s World Ranking issued November 19.
Lastly, the two FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament placeholders, as well as the four European play-off placeholders, will be allocated to pot 4.
The unveiling of the updated schedule of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place 24 hours after the world learns of the 12 unprecedented groups of four at the tournament’s highly anticipated Final Draw.
Unveiled by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who will be joined on stage by FIFA Legends, and representatives of all 42 qualified teams in the audience, as well as those still in contention, the reveal show also confirmed the venues and kick-off times for all 104 matches.
The final version of the match schedule will be available in March, once the FIFA and European play-offs have taken place and the final six slots have been filled.
IANS
