The China Mail - Eyes of football world on 2026 World Cup draw with Trump centre stage

The most logistically complex World Cup in history will be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19, with 16 more teams added to the global showpiece, up from the 32 nations involved in Qatar in 2022.

The ceremony at the Kennedy Center starts at 1700 GMT and reaches far beyond football, with several of the biggest stars in the American sporting world participating while Trump takes centre stage.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has developed a close relationship with Trump, visiting the White House several times.

Now the US president is expected to be the first ever recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded during the draw ceremony, "to recognize the enormous efforts of those individuals who unite people, bringing hope for future generations", as Infantino put it.

The draw will be co-hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum and American actor and comedian Kevin Hart, and feature performances by the Village People, Robbie Williams and Andrea Bocelli.

NFL legend Tom Brady, ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky and former NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal will be among the stars helping to conduct the draw.

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

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

"I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who's phenomenal, and I would say, let's move it to another location. And he would do that," Trump said recently.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will also be present at the ceremony.

Eleven of the 16 World Cup venues are in the United States, with three in Mexico and two in Canada.

The tournament will kick off at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and culminate at the MetLife Stadium outside New York City.

- Argentina put title on line -

The political element to the draw saw Iran vow to boycott the ceremony because the United States refused to grant visas to several members of its delegation, although Iranian head coach Amir Ghalenoei will be there in the end.

Lionel Messi's Argentina are the reigning champions after winning the World Cup for the third time in Qatar in 2022.

Messi will turn 39 during the tournament but this week told ESPN: "I hope I can be there. I've said before that I'd love to be there."

Argentina are among the top seeds along with European champions Spain, record five-time winners Brazil, France, Germany, England, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium. The three host nations complete the first pot of seeds.

The decision to expand the tournament has also cleared the way for several first-time qualifiers, including Cape Verde, Jordan and Curacao.

- 'Natural evolution' -

If the expansion is to everyone's liking, FIFA's head of global football development Arsene Wenger insisted this week it was a "natural evolution" and that 48 teams is "the right number".

Those teams will be split into 12 groups of four, with the top two from each advancing alongside the eight best third-placed sides to the last 32.

For the first time, the four highest-ranked nations will be kept apart, meaning Spain, Argentina, France and England cannot meet before the semi-finals, if all four top their groups.

Six finals berths are still to be decided in playoffs, the winners of which will be among the bottom seeds -- the favourites will therefore want to avoid the potential banana skin of Italy, World Cup winners as recently as 2006 but who failed to qualify for the last two tournaments.

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

E.Choi--ThChM