2026 World Cup draw will be held at Washington's Kennedy Center, Trump says

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, and didn't rule out that he himself might oversee the event.

“It’s the biggest, probably the biggest event in sports, I guess,” said Trump, who made the announcement in an Oval Office event where he was joined by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Vice President JD Vance.

The U.S. is co-hosting next year's tournament — which for the first time will feature 48 national teams up from 32 — with Canada and Mexico. The draw event will determine the World Cup's groups, and the games each team plays in the opening round.

Infantino said the 48 teams will play “104 matches in one month” and likened it to “104 Super Bowls.” Trump picked up on that theme, saying, “It's like having many Super Bowls in a short period of time, because each one of these games, essentially, is a Super Bowl. Some of them are bigger than Super Bowls, actually.”

The World Cup kicks off June 11 at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and runs through the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Games will be played in 16 cities across the three countries. Washington, D.C., is not among the host cities.

Trump said that the Kennedy Center “will give a phenomenal kickoff and we'll be involved.” Asked if he'd be the one actually drawing the team names, Trump didn't answer directly but deferred to Infantino, saying the FIFA chief “was the boss.”

Infantino said, “It's a very interesting proposal,” and he indicated that he and Trump would discuss the matter further.

The choice of venue is interesting because Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center, installing himself as chair and replacing the board of trustees with loyalists. He’s also hinted he’d like to see the venue renamed the Trump/Kennedy Center.

There had been speculation for months that the draw would be held in Las Vegas. The event is traditionally a mix of entertainment and the business of dividing the teams into 12 groups of four for the opening stage of the tournament. When the United States held the World Cup in 1994, the draw was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Stevie Wonder was among the performers.

In December when the draw is held, 42 of the 48 teams will be known, including the automatic berths given to the United States, Mexico and Canada as hosts. The remaining six teams will be determined by playoffs in March.

The president also used Friday's FIFA announcement to boast about his deploying the National Guard and federalizing Washington's police force.

“So now, when we have this beautiful event in December, it's going to be very safe,” Trump said. He added that the FIFA chief “can walk down the street with your beautiful wife. You can take her to dinner, if you can get a reservation.”

Asked about fans overseas obtaining U.S. visas to come watch their teams in the World Cup, Trump at first said the process would be a smooth one, but then added, “Certain countries are going to be very, very easy, and other countries are going to be obviously a little bit more difficult.”

A travel ban that the Trump administration imposed in June includes Iran, which has qualified for the World Cup. The policy makes exceptions for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.” It does not include an exemption for fans.

In an unusual move, Infantino also brought the World Cup trophy with him to the Oval Office. It’s a superstition nearly as old as the World Cup itself: players on national teams around the globe believe that touching the trophy before their team actually wins the tournament on the field can spark bad luck.

Even Infantino noted that the trophy is “for winners only,” but then he added to Trump, “And, since you are a winner, of course you can as well.”

The president did just that, calling the trophy “a beautiful piece of gold” and joking about keeping it and displaying it in the Oval Office, which Trump has redone in a gaudy, gold-hued decor.

“It fits very well right on the wall over there,” Trump said.

President Donald Trump, from left, speaks as FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Carlos Cordeiro listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks as Vice President JD Vance, from left, President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump, left, shakes the hand of FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the conclusion of an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump holds the FIFA World Cup Winners Trophy during an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Now for the encore, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.

Two teams which produced a 5-4 instant classic last week will take center stage on Wednesday for the second act of their Champions League semifinal.

The return game in Munich surely cannot reach the same height of drama as the waves of finessed attacks — and overwhelmed defenses — reached in Paris.

Still, coaches Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany will aim for the stars.

“More, even more,” Kompany said in Paris, when asked about his main message to Bayern's players for the decisive second leg.

Arsenal hosts Atletico Madrid on Tuesday with the score 1-1.

The rewards for a semifinal victory are a place in the final on May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.

Champions League semifinals are often more memorable than the title matches.

One year ago, an exciting Inter Milan-Barcelona contest was widely praised like the PSG-Bayern opener has been. A 3-3 first leg in Barcelona was just an appetizer for Inter’s roller coaster 4-3 win in extra time at San Siro.

In 2022, Real Madrid somehow rallied in stoppage time of the second leg to deny Manchester City victory. Two Rodrygo goals forced extra time that was settled by Karim Benzema’s penalty for a 3-1 win. The wild first leg had finished 4-3 to City in Manchester.

A vintage knockout phase in 2019 was capped by astonishing comebacks on back-to-back nights in the semifinal second legs by Liverpool against Barcelona and Tottenham at Ajax.

It is perhaps eight years since a truly compelling back-and-forth final, when substitute Gareth Bale’s goals — the first an iconic bicycle kick — lifted Madrid to a 3-1 win over Liverpool in Kyiv.

While PSG excelled in the final last year, the 5-0 rout of Inter was never competitive.

Munich was the scene of PSG's finest game last season against Inter to fulfill its Qatari owners' quest to become European champion for the first time.

The Allianz Arena is also where six-time champion Bayern won all six home games in the Champions League this season, scoring 20 goals including four past Real Madrid in a quarterfinals, second-leg thriller three weeks ago.

Munich is the only candidate to host the Champions League final again in 2028. UEFA should confirm that decision in September.

Coach Diego Simeone takes his Atletico team to north London for a third game this season. Third time lucky?

Atletico lost 4-0 at Arsenal in a league-phase game in October and survived a 3-2 loss at Tottenham in the second leg of the round of 16 that easily could have been a bigger margin. Atletico also started this Champions League campaign in England in September — and lost, 3-2 at Liverpool.

It all adds up to five games lost by Atletico in its 15-game Champions League campaign so far, while Arsenal has the last remaining unbeaten record.

Neither team has been European champion. It's 10 years since Atletico played in the last of its three finals, losing to Real Madrid, and 20 years since Arsenal lost its only final, against Barcelona.

All four semifinalists were awarded, and scored, a penalty kick last week. A fifth was awarded to Arsenal but then overturned after the referee was sent to his pitchside monitor to review replays.

Since the Video Assistant Referee system made its World Cup debut in 2018, the trend in top-tier games has been to award ever more spot-kicks.

None of the five decisions last week was universally praised, and the two handball incidents showed how UEFA’s view differs to many coaches, players and fans.

UEFA’s director of refereeing Roberto Rosetti has previously said “we don’t like soft penalties” and cautioned against “microscopic VAR interventions” — which seemed to be happening last week.

For each handball, the ball first deflected from the body of, respectively, Bayern’s Alphonso Davies and Arsenal’s Ben White before contacting an arm which was not held tight to the side of their bodies. That is typically not a penalty in the English Premier League but almost certainly is in UEFA competitions.

Rosetti plans to meet soon with refereeing officials from Europe’s main leagues to seek more clarity and consistency next season.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone gestures from the touchline during a Champions League semifinal, first leg, soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Arsenal in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez, center, is challenged by Arsenal's Declan Rice during a Champions League semifinal, first leg, soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Arsenal in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Bayern's Luis Diaz, center right, and PSG's Vitinha embrace at the end of a Champions League semifinal, first leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in Paris, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

PSG's head coach Luis Enrique grimaces during the Champions League semifinal first leg soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in Paris, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Champions League semifinal, first leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in Paris, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)