The China Mail - Football world braces for 2026 World Cup draw with Trump presiding

The expanded 48-team tournament -- up from the 32-nation field that competed at the 2022 Qatar World Cup - will be played across the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 next year.

Trump's attendance at the Kennedy Center ceremony underscores his rapport with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, who has made several visits to the White House and even joined Trump at international summits in the years since the joint North American bid was awarded the tournament in 2018.

Infantino's close relationship with Trump is widely expected to see the US leader be named as the first recipient of a new FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded at the draw

Trump has made the World Cup a centerpiece event of both his second presidency and the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.

But he has not hesitated to bring domestic politics into the event, threatening to move World Cup matches from Democratic-run cities if he deems conditions to be "unsafe".

In a sign of the global tensions surrounding a World Cup which will have 11 of its 16 venues in the United States, Iran said it will boycott the draw because US authorities refused to grant visas to several members of its delegation.

The president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, said: "We have told the head of FIFA... that it is purely a political position and that FIFA must tell (Washington) to desist from this behaviour."

- First-time qualifiers -

The pretenders to the title which a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina won for the third time in 2022 in Qatar will be drawn into 12 groups.

The top seeds are Argentina, the host nations USA, Mexico and Canada, record five-time winners Brazil, two-time champions France, four-time winners Germany as well as Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands and Belgium.

The evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be 41 when the tournament kicks off, has said his sixth World Cup finals with Portugal will be his last and he would relish crowning his long career with a first global title for his country.

The enlarged cast list also means an opportunity for a handful of first-time qualifiers, including Cape Verde, Jordan and the tiny Caribbean nation of Curacao.

With six of the field still to be decided in playoffs, the favourites will want to avoid Italy, who won the World Cup as recently as 2006 but have not qualified since 2014.

Despite an error-strewn qualification campaign, the Italians can still reach the finals by winning two sudden-death games.

The opening match will be held at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, which also hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals, before the tournament unfolds over nearly six weeks, culminating in the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Because of the complexity, teams will only learn the full details of their match venues and kickoff times on Saturday, a day after the draw.

Supporters' groups have warned fans could face eye-watering sums for tickets for the most attractive games due to FIFA's decision to use dynamic ticket pricing.

Prices on popular secondary market websites in the United States such as Stubhub and Seatgeek have already skyrocketed, with prices for the July 19 World Cup final in New Jersey starting at around $7,000.

C.Smith--ThChM