World Cup draw will be held at Kennedy Center, Trump and FIFA announce Jason Anderson, USA TODAY August 23, 2025 at 3:25 AM World Cup draw will be held at Kennedy Center, Trump and FIFA announce President Donald Trump announced Friday that the 2026 World Cup draw will be held in Washington, D.C.
- - World Cup draw will be held at Kennedy Center, Trump and FIFA announce
Jason Anderson, USA TODAY August 23, 2025 at 3:25 AM
World Cup draw will be held at Kennedy Center, Trump and FIFA announce
President Donald Trump announced Friday that the 2026 World Cup draw will be held in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center, with the event set for December 5.
Trump was joined by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, vice president J.D. Vance, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell in the Oval Office for the announcement. Trump — seated with the World Cup trophy stationed on the Resolute Desk — noted that he had visited the Kennedy Center earlier on Friday.
"It's a tremendous honor to bring the global event and this incredible group of people and these unbelievable athletes — the best athletes in the world — to the cultural center of our nation's capital," said Trump.
While FIFA did not have an official statement to coincide with Friday's White House press event, Infantino stated himself that the draw will commence at 12 p.m. ET, moments before handing the World Cup trophy to Trump.
The news came as something of a surprise. In July, reports emerged that the World Cup draw would take place in Las Vegas, though a spokesperson for The Sphere shot down claims that the venue was the side of the event.
The D.C. region was not selected to host matches at the World Cup, with issues at Northwest Stadium eventually resulting in a joint Washington/Baltimore bid that was ultimately rejected. However, speaking in 2022, U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone did hint at plans to follow long-standing World Cup tradition, which has largely seen national capitals play a major role for the tournament. The last men's World Cup to not feature matches in the host country's capital city was in 1974, when West Germany did not hold matches in Bonn.
"Our nation's capital is very much going to be a huge part of this World Cup, even though they're not hosting games," said Parlow Cone shortly after the host cities were confirmed.
The Trump administration has in recent days instituted federal control over Washington's police force and called in national guard units from several states amid a sharp increase in visible law enforcement throughout the capital. The president insisting during Friday's announcement that the move has reduced crime. The move has drawn significant pushback in the region, with protests of the crackdown becoming a regular occurrence.
The 2026 edition of the men's World Cup — set to run from June 11 to July 19, 2026 — will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and will be the first to feature an expanded 48-team field. 11 U.S. cities will host matches, along with two in Canada and three in Mexico. The tournament final is set for MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the same stadium that welcomed the recent 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final.
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What is World Cup draw? Kennedy Center event explained
The World Cup draw is a major event held before a given World Cup, which sets the schedule of games and bracket for the tournament. With each team only guaranteed three group-stage games, the results of the draw are considered critical in gauging a given country's hopes of a deep tournament run.
Based on the December 2025 FIFA rankings and a desire to prevent too many nations from one continent being paired together in the tournament's group stage, FIFA will sort the 48 qualifying teams into four pots.
Host nations Canada (Group B), Mexico Group A), and the United States (Group D) have already been assigned to groups as seeded teams, with nine best-ranked teams in the world set to be the seeded sides in the other groups. The top two finishers from each group are guaranteed to advance to the knockout stage, while the final eight places will go to the best third-place finishers.
World Cup 2026: What cities will host games?
Matches at the 2026 World Cup will take place in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Here is a full list of cities and corresponding venues:
Canada -
Toronto (BMO Field)
Vancouver (BC Place)
Mexico -
Guadalajara (Estadio Akron)
Mexico City (Estadio Azteca)
Monterrey (Estadio BBVA)
United States -
Atlanta (Mercedez-Benz Stadium)
Boston (Gillette Stadium)
Dallas (AT&T Stadium)
Houston (NRG Stadium)
Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium)
Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium)
Miami (Hard Rock Stadium)
New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium)
Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field)
San Francisco Bay Area (Levi's Stadium)
Seattle (Lumen Field)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2026 World Cup draw at Kennedy Center, Trump and FIFA announce
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