President Donald Trump announced the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will occur Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The draw will announce groups and opening-stage matchups and merges Trump's interest in both the Kennedy Center and hosting the World Cup. Trump promised a safe atmosphere and referenced a federal takeover of Washington's police while issuing threats to Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city's rat population. The tournament expands to 48 teams across the US, Mexico and Canada, with 11 American host cities but not Washington, DC. Trump seized control of the Kennedy Center board and plans a sweeping revamp of the center and its programming.
President Donald Trump announced Friday the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, combining the world's biggest soccer tournament with the cultural institution he has sought to overhaul. The decision to hold the opening event of the World Cup during which FIFA will announce the groups and matchups for the opening stage of the quadrennial tournament at the Kennedy Center combines two of Trump's second-term priorities.
Next year's tournament is expanding for the first time to 48 teams and will span across the US, Mexico and Canada. Eleven American cities will be hosting games, including Santa Clara, but Washington is not one of them an unusual situation for a host nation's capital city during the World Cup. The draw will be the highlight of the tournament for an area of the country that is one of the hotbeds for soccer in the US.
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, Trump said. Trump promised a safe atmosphere at the draw, discussing at length his federal takeover of Washington's police department and issuing threats to Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city's rat population.
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