The world watches as World Cup tournament is set

PUBLISHED: December 5, 2025 | www.baltimoresun.com

At Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center on Friday, the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw took place. The Final Draw is the live show where officials pull balls from a bowl and set the tournament’s path in front of viewers around the world.

During the draw, the names of national teams tumble in bowls and are placed into groups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In a few suspenseful minutes, chance shapes the matchups and maps out the path each country must take to reach the later rounds of the tournament.

The event was exhilarating. The gathering included numerous businesspersons, athletes, heads of state and White House officials. If you can name them, they likely were in attendance. Youth and elderly people were in attendance. And athletic icons passed by as if it were normal.

Being there, it would be hard to argue that this wasn’t one of the most colorful places on Earth. Flags from every nation fluttered. People showed up in traditional dress with every fabric pattern you could imagine. The crowd buzzed with anticipation for what the event would bring. The place was packed, shoulder to shoulder, no empty space to be found. You’d take half a step and practically bump into three different continents. Dozens of cultures and a chorus of languages filled the room. Yet no matter the accent or dialect, everyone was saying some version of the same thing: Today will be our day.

At noon, the historic performing arts venue was transformed into the command center for soccer. It attracted a massive audience in person and was broadcast as a global television event and a form of state occasion.

The room exuded a perfect blend of politics, sport and pageantry. A succession of motorcades arrived at the entrance, and security was as stringent as at any significant political event. On the draw day, the leaders of the three host nations — U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney — appeared on stage. In some ways, it resembled an intimate political summit.

FIFA had promised a “star-studded” entertainment spectacle and, for the one-billion-plus who tuned in to watch, it lived up to the promise. The event featured musical performances and cultural components and carefully supervised draw procedures that allocated 48 teams into 12 groups of four for the 104-game tournament, spread across 11 NFL stadiums in the United States and five more venues split between Mexico and Canada. Famous North American sports figures like Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, Aaron Judge and Wayne Gretzky stepped up to the glass bowls to pick out the balls that would define entire nations’ summers.

One of the loudest roars came when Argentina, three-time champions of the World Cup, were placed into Group J. Lionel Messi and the defending World Cup holders will defend their title against Algeria, then face Austria and Jordan.

Then came the moment the American crowd had been waiting for. The United States was placed into Group D. They will face off first against Paraguay. And within minutes, the U.S. path to victory was laid out:

U.S. World Cup group schedule

United States vs. Paraguay, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, June 12

United States vs. Australia, Lumen Field, Seattle, June 19

United States vs. UEFA Path C winner (Turkey, Slovakia, Kosovo or Romania), SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, June 25

The fact that this ceremony is being hosted in Washington, D.C., and that it commands such attention in the United States despite the lack of popularity of the sport, is proof of how political the World Cup really is. It is a kind of soft war — us against everyone else — fought with flags, anthems and 90-minute battles on grass instead of on battlefields.

Who will be left standing at the end? The world will be watching: fans, celebrities, politicians, world leaders. And when it is over, the champions will return home to a hero’s welcome, with parades in the streets and a speech from their nation’s leader, as if they had returned with proof that they are greater than everyone else.

As the names were drawn, some people lamented a dismal selection while others roared at a golden path. But for a glorious moment, jammed together under the Kennedy Center’s white arches, everyone was united by the same electric feeling.

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.

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