World Cup match schedule to come into focus as draw begins at Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 2026 World Cup draw will begin Friday with a wintry feel as snow fell outside the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with 189 days to go before the expanded 48-nation tournament.

There were long lines outside the complex even at 7 a.m. as workers and media filed through with Secret Service agents securing the area. Presidents Donald Trump of the U.S. and Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico were expected to attend along with Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Frustrated he hasn't been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, Trump was likely to be given FIFA's first peace prize during the ceremony to determine matches for the first round of the 104-game tournament, to be played in the U.S., Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.

A red carpet was laid outside the arts center, taken over this year by Trump and his supporters. Retired stars Tom Brady of the NFL, Shaquille O’Neal of the NBA and Wayne Gretzky of the NHL along with three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge were to assist in a ceremony run by former England captain Rio Ferdinand.

All 11 of the highest-ranked teams were in the draw, with No. 12 Italy among 22 nations competing in playoffs for the final six berths to be decided March 31.

The tournament opens June 11 in Mexico City. The U.S., which reached the semifinals at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and has gotten as far as the quarterfinals only one other time in 2002, starts the next day in Inglewood, California. Canada kicks off in Toronto.

All games from the quarterfinals on will be in the U.S., which is using 11 NFL stadiums. Sites for most games and kickoff times are to be announced Saturday.

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

Model Heidi Klum waves as she arrives on the red carpet for a welcome reception ahead of the draw for 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his wife Leena Al Ashqar pose for a photo as they arrive for a welcome reception ahead of the draw for 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

People arrive for the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Curacao's coach Dick Advocaat, 2nd left, arrives to attend the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

People arrive for the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators on Friday fined X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, 120 million euros ($140 million) for breaches of the bloc’s digital regulations, in a move that risks rekindling tensions with Washington over free speech.

The European Commission issued its decision following an investigation it opened two years ago into X under the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Services Act, also known as the DSA.

It's the first time that the EU has issued a so-called non-compliance decision since rolling out the DSA. The sweeping rulebook requires platforms to take more responsibility for protecting European users and cleaning up harmful or illegal content and products on their sites, under threat of hefty fines.

The Commission, the bloc's executive arm, said it was punishing X because of three different breaches of the DSA’s transparency requirements. The decision could rile President Donald Trump, whose administration has lashed out at digital regulations, complained that Brussels was targeting U.S. tech companies and vowed to retaliate.

Vice President JD Vance, posting on his X account ahead of the decision, accused the Commission of seeking to fine X “for not engaging in censorship.”

“The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage,” he wrote.

Officials denied the rules were intended to muzzle Big Tech companies. The Commission is “not targeting anyone, not targeting any company, not targeting any jurisdictions based on their color or their country of origin,” spokesman Thomas Regnier told a regular briefing in Brussels. “Absolutely not. This is based on a process, democratic process.”

X did not respond immediately to an email request for comment.

EU regulators had already outlined their accusations in mid-2024 when they released preliminary findings of their investigation into X.

Regulators said X’s blue checkmarks broke the rules because on “deceptive design practices” and could expose users to scams and manipulation.

Before Musk acquired X, when it was previously known as Twitter, the checkmarks mirrored verification badges common on social media and were largely reserved for celebrities, politicians and other influential accounts, such as Beyonce, Pope Francis, writer Neil Gaiman and rapper Lil Nas X.

After he bought it in 2022, the site started issuing the badges to anyone who wanted to pay $8 per month.

That means X does not meaningfully verify who's behind the account, “making it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with,” the Commission said in its announcement.

X also fell short of the transparency requirements for its ad database, regulators said.

Platforms in the EU are required to provide a database of all the digital advertisements they have carried, with details such as who paid for them and the intended audience, to help researches detect scams, fake ads and coordinated influence campaigns. But X's database, the Commission said, is undermined by design features and access barriers such as "excessive delays in processing.”

Regulators also said X also puts up “unnecessary barriers” for researchers trying to access public data, which stymies research into systemic risks that European users face.

“Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU. The DSA protects users," Henna Virkkunen, the EU's executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a prepared statement.

The Commission also wrapped up a separate DSA case Friday involving TikTok's ad database after the video-sharing platform promised to make changes to ensure full transparency.

AP Writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

FILE - Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)