(NEXSTAR) – President Donald Trump was joined by FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office on Friday to announce that the final draw of the 2026 World Cup will take place in Washington, D.C.
The final draw will take place in December at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Trump and Infantino announced.
On Dec. 5 at 12 p.m. ET, nations that have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will learn their fate for the group stage of the tournament next summer.
“One billion viewers all over the world will watch it,” Infantino said. “It will determine, of course, the match schedule, which 48 participating teams will play 104 matches in one month — 104 Super Bowls.”
Each qualified nation will be sorted into pots based on FIFA World Ranking at the time of the draw and will be randomly selected into one of 12 groups. Certain rules will limit the number of teams from the same confederation to be seeded into the same group.
Infantino also announced that the sale of the first World Cup tickets will begin on Sept. 10, and presented Trump with the first ticket.
The World Cup, set to kick off in June, is hosted across North America with games planned in Mexico and Canada as well. The U.S. cities set to host matches include Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York and Philadelphia.
Trump’s Oval Office address came on a busy day in Washington. By noon, Trump had already spoken to the press or on social media about the FBI raid of ex-Trump adviser John Bolton’s home, crime in D.C., the looming TikTok ban, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and the renovation of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
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