FIFA 2026 World Cup Draw Highlights: The FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., divided a record 48 teams into 12 groups of four. Six spots won’t be determined until March, when 22 teams will face off in playoffs. The draw also served as a stage for U.S. President Donald Trump to receive the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize.
Argentina and Lionel Messi will start their World Cup title defense against Algeria, while the U.S. was drawn Friday to open against Paraguay as soccer’s quadrennial championship returns to North America for the first time since 1994.
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Group A: Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, UEFA Playoff D; Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, UEFA Playoff A; Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti; Group D: United States, Australia, Paraguay, UEFA Playoff C; Group E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao; Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, UEFA Playoff B; Group G: Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand; Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde; Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, FIFA 2; Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan; Group K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, FIFA 1; Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana
Scroll down to follow updates from the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group stage draw
The Nobel Academy denied him, much to his wrath. Infantino, his good friend for years, sympathises with him. The US co-hosts the biggest World Cup ever next year. The full portrait emerges. (AP Photo)
FIFA World Cup draw: As Donald Trump-Gianni Infantino bromance deepens, the US president may finally get a peace prize
Like a hymn, Village People’s YMCA will thrum in the concert hall of the Kennedy Centre where the FIFA World Cup draw will take place on Friday evening. Once looked upon as a gay anthem, it’s the ubiquitous soundtrack of the American president Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ rallies. The blind Italian vocalist Andrea Bocelli would render one of his operatic arias; Robbie Williams would croon an old love-sick melody; Heidi Klum would rev up the glam quotient. An audience of two hundred million will hold their breath to learn their team’s fate and fortunes.
