The U.S. is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico.
President Donald Trump said Friday that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, and didn’t rule out that he himself might oversee the event.
“It’s the biggest, probably the biggest event in sports, I guess,” said Trump, who made the announcement in an Oval Office event where he was joined by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Vice President JD Vance.
The U.S. is co-hosting next year’s tournament — which for the first time will feature 48 national teams up from 32 — with Canada and Mexico. The draw event will determine the World Cup’s groups, and the games each team plays in the opening round.
Infantino said the 48 teams will play “104 matches in one month” and likened 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 one of these games, essentially, is a Super Bowl. Some of them are bigger than Super Bowls, actually.”
The World Cup kicks off June 11 at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and runs through the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Games will be played in 16 cities across the three countries. Washington, D.C., is not among the host cities.
Trump said that the Kennedy Center “will give a phenomenal kickoff and we’ll be involved.” Asked if he’d be the one actually drawing the team names, Trump didn’t answer directly but deferred to Infantino, saying the FIFA chief “was the boss.
