Dmonald Trump took centre stage on the green carpet ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center on Friday (December 5).
The U.S. president was all smiles as he made his way to the event where FIFA chief Gianni Infantino presented him a new peace prize in the name of the sport’s world governing body.
Proceedings got off to an inauspicious start as hundreds of journalists were left queuing in the snow for hours as security personnel with dogs conducted exhaustive searches and checks of bags and equipment.
The ceremony began at 1700GMT with a “pre-draw” show scheduled to last an hour, opened by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli singing Nessun Dorma – the theme to the Italia ’90 World Cup.
The Village People are also due to perform, with the allocation of groups for the expanded 48-team competition due to begin at around 1800GMT.
A newly introduced seeding system ensures that the current top four in the world – Spain, holders Argentina, 2022 runners-up France and England – cannot meet until the semi-final stage if they win their groups.
The 48 teams – including six still-to-be-decided playoff winners – will be divided into 12 groups of four to produce a mammoth 104-match schedule across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
(Reuters)
