World Cup Draw 2026 Deconstructed

TRUMP GETS A GONG AT THE WORLD CUP DRAW IN WASHINGTON

Sean O'Conor

I needed to go shopping last Friday but delayed that errand so I could watch the FIFA World Cup draw at 5pm GMT.

Two hours later I was quite glad to get to the supermarket and buy some carrots. The 2026 draw was not something I will be watching again in a hurry. But needs must and the herald for the greatest show on earth is a holy day in football's liturgical calendar every four years, where the faithful's attendance is expected.

I think I have watched them all since 1982, when some delightfully-dressed small Spanish boys help FIFA mess up magnificently, getting balls stuck or broken, and placing teams in the wrong groups. At least it was only half an hour long, and compared to the latest offering, I kind of miss Español 82's parish raffle incompetence.

Times change, and this year's draw had high-profile personnel and professional production. But football's heart has an irregular beat.

Gianni Infantino

FIFA has been under new management since Sepp Blatter's corruption-stained regime collapsed in ignominy a decade ago, yet another Swiss supremo, Gianni Infantino, has maintained Blatter's obsession with winning support from football's lesser nations by expanding the World Cup to an eye-watering 48 finalists next summer, as well as cosying up to questionable jurisdictions.

Splayed out on our screens was an overwhelming tableau of national colours, much like the line of flags outside the United Nations building. That's 48 re-election votes, thought Infantino.

As for analysing the draw, where do we begin with such a complicated, multicoloured spread of competitors? Added to the elephantine match schedule are 13 different kick-off times, vast distances for teams and followers to travel, differing climates and time zones and gaps between countries' matches of up to a week, making any attempt to easily navigate a path to the final at this stage a job for the codebreakers of Bletchley Park.

4 Seeds

For the first time there are four seeds in the draw - Spain, Argentina, France and England, designed to be kept apart until the semi finals. There have been howls, but I do not see that as a problem because we have long bemoaned overloaded 'groups of death' and there are none that really fit that bill this time.

Group B does look a bit bland with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland but if they win their playoffs, Italy will be a cat among those pigeons. On the other hand, Group I feels meatier, with France, Norway and Senegal, as does the Group L lineup of England, Croatia and Ghana, but to be honest none of the groups look truly deadly. With so many teams competing in the first round maybe that should not surprise us. The World Cup is not the F.A. Cup where anyone can play anyone from the 3rd Round onwards. Nor is it a league where everyone plays everyone else at least once, but rather a hybrid format. So the seeding seems a reasonable compromise.

104 Matches

The overall numbers are awesome: Next year's tournament will see a humungous 104 matches take place across three vast countries and in often oppressive heat to boot, in stark contrast to the lack of football and wintry weather outside the draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Has the World Cup grown too big? Absolutely. And yet, despite increasing the finalists from 32 in Qatar to 48 in North America, there is still talk of expanding the finals to a mind-boggling 64 teams. Jeopardy matters so you do wonder how many dead rubbers may be thrown up in the final group games.

On the plus side, we should all feel happy for the fans and populations of first-time qualifiers Cabo Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, who will revel in their place in the sun and etch lifelong memories next year, but the word 'finals' implies the cream of the crop on show, not the chaff. World Cup 2026 qualification does not even finish until late March of course and the likes of Kosovo, New Caledonia, North Macedonia and Suriname can still add their names to next summer's lineup, leaving the lucky qualifiers barely two months of preparation before the finals begin. Given the limit of international windows and the power of the club game, maybe that was inevitable, but it does feel like an awfully long wait.

Map of 2026 World Cup venues. — Map of 2026 World Cup venues

Kick Off Times

The other novelty this time was a second draw of sorts with the announcement of the kick-off times the following day. This has been a hot topic, literally, since the Club World Cup reminded us of America's roasting summer temperatures and the lunacy of midday kickoffs in Miami. It is hard to forget the roasting Florida summer when Mexico played Ireland at 12 noon in Orlando at USA '94, even hotter than John Aldridge's fury with a FIFA official who would not let him enter the field because the paperwork for his substitution had blown away. The Liverpool striker almost got himself sent off before coming on, but soon after entering the fray incandescent, his pent-up rage uncoiled itself and he thumped home a header.

Despite all the warnings from coaches, players and medical experts, the midday madness has not gone away. In fact, 12 noon is the most popular kickoff time in the tournament with 23 of the 102 clashes beginning when the clock strikes twelve. The next most common start time is 6pm with 15 games starting then.

The opening game of 2026 will start at 1pm in Mexico City, which does not bode well, although the capital's altitude means there will be less humidity than in the United States' venues on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

Four out of six games in Group B are noonday starts, albeit on the slightly cooler west coasts of America and Canada. The only other twelve o'clock kickoffs appear to have been deliberately sited in the most modern venues with retractable or climate-controlled roofs, which will hopefully keep out some heat.

AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas). — AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)

Stadiums

The Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, NRG Stadium in Houston and the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles do appear to be a cut above the Pontiac Silverdome that hosted World Cup games indoors for the first time at USA '94. Having been designed to keep out the Michigan winter, the Silverdome arena felt hot, humid and malodorous at the height of summer.

There are a baffling 13 different kick-off times at USA 2026, further proof of the over-bloated composition of the finals, but with over one hundred games, unbearable heat, four local time zones and European TV audiences to think about, it was never going to be easy to schedule. In a perfect world, all the matches would be kicking off in the early morning or late night, but that just was not realistic. So, to be fair to FIFA, they do seem to have listened with regard to the temperatures this time.

Infantino & Trump

Next we have to talk about the elephant in the room - Infantino's prolonged wooing of U.S. President Donald Trump, which many viewers were witnessing for the first time. For some years, the FIFA President has been popping up regularly in the White House, accompanying the American President on overseas diplomatic trips, showing up for the 2020 signing of the Abraham Accords, the Israel & Hamas peace talks in Eqypt and Qatar, as well as the annual business leaders' meeting in Davos and Trump's second presidential inauguration in January this year. Now, Infantino has anointed his new best friend as the Prince of Peace at the World Cup Draw, awarding him a pseudo-Nobel Prize.

If anyone wonders about football's political clout or the global stature of its leader, Infantino is emphasising it with a loudhailer (or should that be an Alpine horn?). And yet, FIFA's own Ethics Code Article 15 demands the organisation's employees, "remain politically neutral in their dealings with government and politicians." If the President himself is breaking his own organisation's rules, as he blatantly is, then World football governance is back in the age of Blatter.

FIFA - A Political Animal

This ceremony in Washington confirmed FIFA is not a neutral body but a decidedly political animal, happy to pledge blind allegiance to power wherever they find it, whether it is in the USA, Russia or the Middle East, as long as there is a hefty World Cup pay day in exchange. And there we are at the heart of it - money talks and it talks to money.

Trump has been carefully cultivated as an ally by Infantino and was duly centre stage for the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this year, absurdly staying on the podium as Chelsea raised the trophy. This autumn he welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo to the White House for the cameras, confirming that he gets the commercial importance of football even if most Americans still do not. There is just too much fame, money and popularity around the world's biggest sport for the most attention-seeking world leader in living memory to ignore it forever.

Ronaldo

A week later, Ronaldo's ban from the opening World Cup game for his red card against Ireland in November was miraculously suspended, clearing the way for Trump's new Portuguese pal to play at his party. Since Ronaldo had announced his international retirement after the tournament, the ban was essentially rescinded. As with the crowbarring of Lionel Messi's Inter Miami into the Club World Cup, the goalposts are now movable, all thanks to the man in the White House.

Spare a thought for the three players without Ronaldo's fame who will have to sit out their World Cup opening games having been similarly suspended: Argentina's Nicolas Otamendi, Ecuador's Moises Caicedo and Qatar's Tarek Salman. It is not fair on them while Ronaldo gets to play.

Donald Trump Official Portrait. — Donald Trump Official Portrait

World Peace Prize

Like the American navy in the Caribbean right now, FIFA have equally sailed into hot water with their World Peace Prize. You had to pinch yourself that the supposedly apolitical governing body was kicking the most political of footballs for the cameras and giving a belligerent, albeit not warmongering, politician an accolade of virtue.

Barely a week later, US forces seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, while 17 American warships carrying a few thousand troops remain anchored in said sea, threatening the regime of Nicolás Maduro. A spiral into military action against Venezuela would make FIFA's inaugural peace gong look a laughing stock. As of the start of December, it should be noted, 22 US strikes on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean have killed 87 people, all authorised under Trump's government. Innocent fishermen are understandably perturbed at being fired upon.

And yet, the soft power angle is important to acknowledge too.

The Swiss leader's sycophancy to Trump has been crass to watch for sure, but at the same time FIFA needs the U.S. President on board for their greatest show because the World Cup is their biggest pay packet. Come the 20th of July 2026 when the circus leaves town, Infantino can probably stop love-bombing the White House. Until then, a volatile ego who has regularly acted on a whim against foreigners within his borders, has to be mollycoddled when millions more foreigners are arriving next summer and the eyes of the world are turned to the country and the tournament.

Given Trump's volatile rhetoric and see-sawing mind, we should cut Infantino some slack for doing everything possible to stroke his ego. That is realpolitik, which works better than idealism.

The subterfuge seems so obvious but Trump loves flattery to put it mildly and is happy in symbiotic, not morally pure relationships. Americans at large may not have historically 'got' soccer, but the size and international nature of next summer's show has woken up their President at least into accepting football's geopolitical importance.

The Village People

On a lighter, campier note, The Village People were a refreshing, if bizarre addition to the draw, bringing some much-needed happy silliness to the clunky, long drawn-out proceedings at the end with a rendition of YMCA that got Trump jiving, as well as Marcelo Bielsa according to the BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce.

Pearce had none of the bonhomie or gravitas of Barry Davies, the Beeb's traditional voiceover for World Cup draws, and talked over much of the Spanish spoken at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., which I found annoying as I speak the language. It was odd there was no English interpreter prepared though. Davies is 88 of course but memories live long of his iconic voice and match commentaries such as "Look at his face, just look at his face!"

I once met him sat next to Trevor Brooking at baggage reclaim at Rotterdam airport en route to the 1997 Cup Winners' Cup Final, won by Bobby Robson's Barcelona courtesy of a Ronaldo penalty and he was a typically charming chap full of football anecdotes.

Presenters

As for the show's presenters, I scratched my head a little. Infantino led the presentation but seemed lost in translation as he tried to gee up a room full of suits to "make some noise".

Rio Ferdinand was an odd appointment as the master of ceremonies. He is a thoroughly good egg of course and played with note for years but does not emit much charisma for a host and was prone to lapses into his native south-east London argot (I once taught at his old school).

Comedian Kevin Hart was a better choice, a blithe spirit full of jokey quips to ensure the proceedings were not too earnest. His partner was Heidi Klum, a veteran of the 2006 World Cup draw, when she placed Serbia & Montenegro in a group with Argentina, the Netherlands and the Ivory Coast, prompting a famous Belgrade newspaper headline, "Heidi Klum has sent us to hell". A veritable group of death.

Klum grinned and did her decorative thing, but one wondered if she was only there due to an association with Trump's model wife Melania. Otherwise, she surely cannot have been first on the teamsheet. I could not help wondering who would have been better picks.

David Beckham has the looks and household name recognition in the States but the magic disappears once he begins speaking. Jon Stewart, comedian and host of the Daily Show, is a football aficionado but having such a liberal satirist in close proximity to Trump would have been unthinkable. Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny, with their acting training, would have been suitable but were not called.

Other U.S. actors who have shown interest in football are Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans and Anne Hathaway, any of whom could have done a better job.

Music

The musical interludes were hit and miss - Nicole Scherzinger and Lauren Hill failing to get the suits out of their seats reminded me of attending the Euro 2012 draw in Warsaw and watching a Polish boy band fall short similarly.

Robbie Williams, a big football fan and always entertaining, worked though, raising a chuckle as he left the stage with a typically cheeky "I'll be off then" aside. Andrea Boceli opening with a pitch-perfect rendition of Nessun Dorma was an excellent way to begin the show too.

Actor Danny Ramirez, who was speedily interviewing the great and the good including Hugo Sanchez and Yaya Toure, was pleasant and relaxed in contrast to Ferdinand, while picking North American sporting icons to draw the balls was a wise move, even if Shaquille O'Neal looked bemused by it all and Wayne Gretzky stumbled over many country names, especially 'KURA-COW' for Curaçao.

Bloated Format

The bloated 48-team format was complicated to the initiated, let alone the novice, and Ferdinand in the end did a good job sailing us through such uncharted waters. He was not helped by the below-par music accompanying the irritating graphics between draws.

My mind went back to the 1994 draw and Robin Williams, now sadly no longer with us, as well as FIFA President Joâo Havelange's petty and ridiculous snubbing of the one footballer all Americans recognised. To give Trump his due, this time he did mention Pele, which drew applause in the auditorium.

Now the scheduling is all done and dusted, we can move on to our next headache - planning our lives around the 102 football matches next June and July.

The supermarket can definitely wait then.

Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile.com