If the idea of a trip to Trinidad in mid-February sounds appealing, you’ll want to know how the Union will kick off their 2026 campaign.
The first official game of next year will be against Defence Force FC of Trinidad & Tobago in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Defence Force won the Trinidadian league title in the 2024-25 season, then finished third in this year’s regional Caribbean Cup tournament.
The tournament starts in February, and though Concacaf hasn’t set the exact schedule yet, traditionally MLS teams play their first-round games in the middle of the month. If that is true again this time, the Union would play at Defence Force some time from Feb. 17-19, then fly north for their Feb. 21 MLS opener at D.C. United.
Soccer history buffs will appreciate that Defence Force’s home is Trinidad’s most famous sports venue, Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. It was the site of the U.S. men’s soccer team’s legendary “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” win over the Soca Warriors in 1989 that clinched qualification for the 1990 World Cup, ending a 40-year tournament drought.
Defence Force’s name is literal: its squads have historically been built with members of Trinidad’s armed forces. But the soccer is serious too, as the club’s 24 domestic league titles are a record by far. It’s also the only Trinidadian club to have won the Concacaf title, in 1978 and 1985.
The Union will presumably host their home leg of the series some time from Feb. 24-26, leading up to the March 1 league opener against New York City FC.
Should the Union advance as expected, the tone of things will change fast. Either Mexican juggernaut Club América or Honduras’ Olimpia would await in the round of 16. The Union haven’t faced América since the 2021 Concacaf semifinals, Philadelphia’s first time in the tournament, when América won both games by 2-0 scores.
That round is scheduled for March 10-12 and 17-19, and it’s not clear which team would host first. Around those dates, the Union host the San Jose Earthquakes on March 7, visit Atlanta United on March 14, and host the Chicago Fire on March 21.
After that, MLS stops for the March FIFA window, the last national team games before the World Cup.
Kai Wagner (top) is one of the only Union players currently with the club who played against Club América in the 2021 Concacaf Champions Cup.
2026 Concacaf Champions Cup first round
Games are listed in order of the bracket. Some series will be played Feb. 3-5 and 10-12, and others will be played Feb. 17-19 and 24-26. Concacaf will confirm the schedule at a later date.
— Pumas UNAM (Mexico) vs. San Diego FC (United States); the winner plays Toluca (Mexico)
—Los Angeles Galaxy (United States) vs. Sporting San Miguelito (Panama); the winner plays Mount Pleasant (Jamaica)
— Cruz Azul (Mexico) vs. Vancouver FC (Canada)
—Monterrey (Mexico) vs. Xelajú (Guatemala); the winner plays Cruz Azul or Vancouver FC
—Los Angeles FC (United States) vs. Real España (Honduras); the winner plays Alajuelense (Costa Rica)
—Nashville SC (United States) vs. Atlético Ottawa (Canada); the winner plays Inter Miami (United States)
— Club América (Mexico) vs. Olimpia (Honduras)
— Union (United States) vs Defence Force FC (Trinidad & Tobago); the winner plays América or Olimpia
— Tigres UANL (Mexico) vs. Forge FC (Canada)
— FC Cincinnati (United States) vs. O&M FC (Dominican Republic); the winner plays Tigres or Forge
—Vancouver Whitecaps (Canada) vs. Cartaginés (Costa Rica); the winner plays the Seattle Sounders (United States)
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially six months away, and Philadelphians’ next chance to buy general admission tickets starts Thursday.
From Dec. 11 to Jan. 13, fans can enter a lottery for the chance to buy World Cup match tickets, like the two previous lottery phases. The “random selection draw” is the third of several ticket sale phases leading up to the World Cup’s first match on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City.
During the first two ticket phases, the United States, Canada, and Mexico (in that order) drove the bulk of ticket sales, according to FIFA. Fans in 212 countries have bought tickets.
However, since the final draw on Friday, the World Cup matchups and schedule have been finalized. This will be the first ticket sale phase in which fans can apply for single-game tickets for exact matchups and teams.
Brazil’s Raphinha (center) celebrates with teammate Vinícius Júnior after scoring his side’s opening goal against Venezuela during a World Cup qualifying match.
How to enter the random selection draw for FIFA World Cup tickets
The lottery application form will become available on FIFA’s website starting at 11 a.m. Thursday and will close at 11 a.m. on Jan. 13.
Log in during the application window and complete the random selection draw application form.
Winners will be selected in a random draw, with notifications starting soon after Jan. 13. Those selected will receive an assigned date and time to purchase tickets, subject to availability.
Single-match tickets to all 104 games, plus venue-specific and team-specific options, will be made available to choose from. That means fans in the Philadelphia area could buy tickets for matches at Lincoln Financial Field — if selected.
Fans who have applied to previous ticket sale lotteries must submit a new application form.
With 48 teams spread across 12 groups in a World Cup for the first time, the 72 group-stage games next summer will be a lot to take in.
Here are our picks for the top 10 to watch, in chronological order. In two cases, we’ll note the ones we would have put at the top of a ranking by quality.
Canada vs. Italy
If Italy wins its qualifying playoff
Group B, 3 p.m. June 12 in Toronto
There are a lot of great stories across the 48 teams, especially the many first-timers and first-in-a-long-timers. But that doesn’t mean there are a lot of must-circle games. In truth, a tournament this big — too big for a lot of tastes — could create a diluted group stage.
But don’t tell that to the northernmost of the three cohosts. This will be the first men’s World Cup played on Canadian soil, and the Canucks will start against the winner of the European playoff bracket with Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If Italy emerges from that qualifying playoff, a Canada-Italy matchup in a city with a raucous Italian expat community would be electric. (It also likely would be as expensive a ticket at Toronto’s 45,736-seat stadium as a custom Armani suit.)
Among the many Little Italy neighborhoods in North America, Toronto has long had one of the most vibrant.
The Azzuri are favored to win that bracket, but not a slam dunk. They’ve missed the last two World Cups in catastrophic fashion, and if they beat Northern Ireland, they’ll have to face Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina on the road. If they get the job done, you’ll hear the cheers from College and Bathurst up north all the way to Passyunk and Snyder down south.
Brazil vs. Morocco
Group C, 6 p.m. June 13 in East Rutherford, N.J.
Group C will have the most fun vibes, with Scotland and Haiti as the other teams — both are ending decades-long waits to return to men’s soccer’s biggest stage. Their fan bases will be boisterous, and the Scots’ Tartan Army will be massive. But in soccer terms, this will be the best matchup.
The Seleçao’s quest for an unparalleled sixth title goes through an African power that is loaded with talent and skill. Fans rightly will dream of watching Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior or Estêvão charge at Morocco’s all-world outside back Achraf Hakimi, and Hakimi will charge the other way at his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Marquinhos.
Paris Saint-Germain teammates Marquinhos (left) and Achraf Hakimi could play against each other in the World Cup.
Netherlands vs. Japan
Group F, 4 p.m. June 14 in Arlington, Texas
This game also will feature lots of skill across the field.
Japan’s Ao Tanaka (right) is teammates with Medford’s Brenden Aaronson at English Premier League club Leeds United.
England vs. Croatia
Group L, 4 p.m. June 17 in Arlington, Texas
England will arrive in its former colonies as one of the favorites to win the World Cup, and for good reason. After decades of underachievement, the Three Lions finally have the right mix of talent, tactics, and chemistry to win it all.
Their toughest group test should be their opener, as Croatia’s ageless playmaker Luka Modrić matches wits with his former Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham. Both teams’ fans also haven’t forgotten that in their last World Cup meeting, Croatia memorably beat England on penalty kicks in the 2018 semifinals.
Jude Bellingham (right) on the ball for England in World Cup qualifying.
Mexico vs. South Korea
Group A, 9 p.m. June 18 in Guadalajara, Mexico
Eight years since their last meeting in a World Cup, they will cross paths again in what could be a wide-open game.
Mexico is under huge pressure to reach el quinto partido, a fifth game at a World Cup, for the first time since 1986 — perhaps not coincidentally the last time the tournament was on home turf. If Raúl Jiménez’s squad can topple Son Heung-Min’s squad, El Tri would take a big step in the right direction and toward winning the group.
Expect many eyes south of the Rio Grande to be on Gilberto Mora, a 17-year-old who is Mexico’s newest phenom. He looks like the real thing so far, but the World Cup is a stage beyond anything he’s seen.
Gilberto Mora played for Mexico at the under-20 World Cup this year and could play on the big stage next year.
Ecuador vs. Germany
Group E, 4 p.m. June 25 East Rutherford, N.J.
World Cup upsets don’t have the same stakes as in the NCAA Tournament, but picking them is always trendy. This one goes to the top of the list, with a potential midfield battle of Germany’s Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala vs. Ecuador’s Moisés Caicedo and Kendry Páez.
Florian Wirtz (right) in action for Germany.
U.S. vs. Turkey
If Turkey wins its qualifying playoff
Group D, 10 p.m. June 25 in Inglewood, Calif.
Though the U.S. has one of the easiest groups it could have wanted, this potential matchup is here on merit. Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız are great young playmakers, and they have Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s veteran experience behind them.
It’s just a shame that FIFA and whoever else was in the room decided to stick the kickoff time so late on a Thursday night for most of the country.
Kenan Yıldız (left) on the ball for Turkey when it beat the U.S. in June in East Hartford, Conn.
Norway vs. France
Group I, 3 p.m. June 26 in Foxborough, Mass.
For all the gaudiness of the World Cup draw’s entertainment acts, you could hear a pin drop in the Kennedy Center’s fabled Concert Hall when the serious business started. Then, every once in a while, the crowd would gasp.
The onlookers gasped mightily when Norway landed in France’s group.
It will be the group-stage finale for both teams, too, with France aiming to take another step toward a third straight men’s World Cup final. That makes this game No. 2 behind Brazil-Morocco as the best overall.
Kylian Mbappé (left) and Erling Haaland have played against each other in the UEFA Champions League, but never in the World Cup.
Uruguay vs. Spain
Group H, 8 p.m. June 26 in Guadalajara
This game might turn out to be a dud because Uruguay has been playing pretty badly lately and doesn’t look like it will turn it around before the summer. But Federico Valverde play against a slew of players he knows well as a Real Madrid stalwart.
Spain will be worth watching no matter what. Electric teenager Lamine Yamal is the world’s game’s new superstar, and La Roja’s list of talents is among the sport’s longest: Gavi, Pedri, Rodri, Mikel Merino, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams, Martín Zubimendi, and more.
Uruguay’s Federico Valverde (right) and Spain’s Pedri (bottom) play on opposite sides of the Real Madrid-Barcelona rivalry, one of soccer’s most famous clashes.
Colombia vs. Portugal
Group K, 7:30 p.m. June 27 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
If Jamaica wins its intercontinental playoff bracket, Andre Blake would face Cristiano Ronaldo in the Reggae Boyz’ first men’s World Cup game since 1998. But since that’s not guaranteed — and really not guaranteed right now, given how Jamaica failed in Concacaf qualifying — we’ll pick a certainty.
In particular, we’ll pick the certainty of Colombia’s outstanding fan base. The Cafeteros always have boisterous backing in the United States, thanks to the big expat community here, and they will be deafening in South Florida.
On the field, the marquee will have Ronaldo and Colombia’s Luis Díaz. But these days, Ronaldo isn’t his country’s best player. Vitinha, João Neves, and Rafael Leão are ahead of the biggest name.
When the World Cup arrives in town next summer, diehard soccer fans and casual followers will tune in to see the action. If you’re one who doesn’t know everything about all the teams that will play at Lincoln Financial Field, we’re here to help.
Here’s our ranking of the five group games Philadelphia will host.
5. Curaçao vs. Ivory Coast
Group E, June 25, 4 p.m.
Curaçao will be one of this World Cup’s great underdog stories. The former Dutch territory leveraged its diaspora in the Netherlands to recruit talented players like brothers Leandro and Juninho Bacuna. Their manager is a Dutch legend, Dick Advocaat.
Curaçao’s celebrations at the final whistle of its tie at Jamaica last month that clinched the Caribbean island’s first World Cup qualification.
The Blue Wave will probably be routed by Germany and Ecuador in their first two group games, so this could be their tournament farewell. Hopefully, though, they will get a nice send-off from a city that loves underdogs.
Ivory Coast is led by midfielder Franck Kessié and forwards Amad Diallo and Sébastien Haller. You’ll also want to keep an eye on 19-year-old winger Yan Diomande. He lived for a few years in the United States as a young teen, and played high school and youth club soccer in Florida before turning pro in Europe in November 2024.
The other upside to this matchup is that since the teams’ fan bases aren’t huge, there’s a chance local fans will be able to get tickets for it. Perhaps only a small chance, because there will be huge demand — and exorbitant prices — for every World Cup game no matter who’s in it.
Yan Diomande celebrates scoring a goal for Ivory Coast in a World Cup qualifier in October.
4. Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador
Group E, June 14, 7 p.m.
Picking the game to rank fourth was even harder than picking the game to rank fifth. It came down to star power vs. potential atmosphere in the stands, and the tie went against the atmosphere.
So we apologize to Ivory Coast for putting both of its games at the bottom. We also apologize to the tens of thousands of Ecuador fans who will ensure that Philadelphia’s first men’s World Cup game is a fast sellout. La Tri’s faithful have a long track record of traveling all over the U.S. when their team plays here, and creating boisterous atmospheres.
Kendry Paez (center) played for Ecuador against the United States in October.
3. Croatia vs. Ghana
Group L, June 27, 5 p.m.
We said players break ties, and no one’s better for that than legendary Croatian playmaker Luka Modrić. He will be atop the marquee for this game, and he won’t just draw Croatia fans in their famed red-and-white checkerboard jerseys. Anyone who has relished watching his club career with Real Madrid and AC Milan will want to be there, as Modrić plays in his final World Cup at age 40.
Even at age 40, Croatia’s Luka Modrić (left) remains one of the soccer world’s great midfield wizards.
2. France vs. Bolivia, Suriname, or Iraq
Group I, June 22, 5 p.m.
Now for the easy part. France commands attention with star power and success. Kylian Mbappé led Les Bleus to the 2018 World Cup title and the 2022 final, and there’s every reason to believe they could make another deep run next year.
From reigning world player of the year Ousmane Dembélé to fast-rising youngsters Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué, and Michael Olise — just a few of the many names that could go here — France has a depth of elite talent that almost no other national team can match.
They also have a national anthem in “La Marseillaise” that’s perfect for belting out from the stands, even on a hot summer evening.
We’ll know which team France will face after the intercontinental playoffs in March. Bolivia hasn’t been to a men’s World Cup since 1994, when Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno played before becoming some of MLS’s first stars. Iraq hasn’t been on this stage since 1986.
From here, and from the view of many followers of soccer in North and Central America, there will be a soft spot for Suriname. Like Curaçao, the nation that’s officially in South America’s land mass has leveraged its Dutch connections to rise up Concacaf’s ranks.
The Natio are led by forward Sheraldo Becker, who played with Medford’s Brenden Aaronson in 2023-24 at Germany’s Union Berlin. He then moved to Spain, first at Real Sociedad and now at Osasuna.
Sheraldo Becker (left) in action with Spain’s Real Sociead last season.
1. Brazil vs. Haiti
Group C, June 19, 9 p.m.
The top pick was obvious, but just in case, here’s a little more juice for it. A few hours after the World Cup schedule was announced, this writer went to the Big 5 Classic and was asked by a few friends and colleagues about the games coming here.
The answer always started with Brazil, and every time it didn’t finish before that one word produced an amazed reaction.
That’s the power of the most decorated team in men’s World Cup history. The Seleçao’s five championships are the record, and they are the only team to play in every men’s World Cup there’s ever been. Philadelphia will be the 60th all-time city in which Brazil has played a men’s World Cup game.
Nor can any team match the nation’s history of superstars, from Garrincha to Pelé to the original Ronaldo — all wearing the eternal yellow-and-green jerseys.
Dunga lifted the trophy and paraded it around the Rose Bowl when Brazil won the 1994 men’s World Cup in the United States for its fourth title.
Now comes what might be the final piece of the puzzle, famed manager Carlo Ancelotti. He coached many of these players at Spanish club Real Madrid, and has the clout to make the big decisions necessary to pick the World Cup team.
What makes this specific game even better is Brazil’s opponent. Haiti is in its first men’s World Cup since 1974. Its vibrant diaspora across North America will flock to town, even if the Trump administration bans travelers from the nation itself.
Les Grenadiers also have two players with Philadelphia ties, Union midfielder Danley Jean Jacques and Penn alumnus Duke Lacroix. As rare as it is to play in any World Cup, it’s even rarer to get a homecoming game on soccer’s biggest stage.
Philadelphia will welcome two of the soccer world’s greatest powers, Brazil and France, for its slate of World Cup games next summer.
Brazil, whose five men’s World Cup titles are the most of any nation, will play Haiti on June 19. That will fill the city’s streets with a vibrant mix of the Seleçao’s famed yellow-and-green kits, and Haiti’s diaspora from across the northeast United States.
It will also mean an unofficial home game for Union midfielder Danley Jean Jacques, who helped Les Grenadiers reach their first men’s World Cup since 1974. He’ll get to play against superstars including Vinícius Júnior and Estêvão, who coincidentally played at the Linc last summer in the Club World Cup.
Union midfielder Danley Jean Jacques (center) will get to play an unofficial home game when Haiti faces Brazil in Philadelphia.
But that day will put Philadelphia in the middle of this World Cup’s political spotlight. Haiti is one of two teams in the field, along with Iran, whose citizens are currently banned from entering the United States because of political unrest in the tiny Caribbean nation. Anyone in an official delegation — players, coaches, team staff, etc. — will be fine, but whether fans will be able to travel here remains a huge question.
Haiti was unable to host its World Cup qualifiers on home soil, and manager Sébastien Migné has never set foot in the country. When asked about that at Friday’s group draw, he told reporters: “It depends on Mr. Trump.”
As President Donald Trump had just won the first edition of FIFA’s Peace Prize (with timing that perhaps wasn’t coincidental), Migné then offered a hope that “maybe he will continue with that [spirit], and he will open the possibility for the fans to come here.”
France will play here on June 22 against the winner of the March intercontinental playoff bracket, which includes Bolivia, Suriname, and Iraq. That will bring one of the world’s absolute superstars, Kylian Mbappé, who led Les Bleus to the 2018 title and the 2022 final.
Philadelphia will get to see France superstar Kylian Mbappé (right) in person during the World Cup.
France’s squad is among the most loaded in the tournament. Mbappé is joined by reigning world player of the year Ousmane Dembélé and a fleet of outstanding youngsters: Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki, Desiré Doué, Hugo Ekitike, Michael Olise, and Warren Zaïre-Emery.
Philadelphia’s slate begins on June 14 with Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador in Group E. Expect Ecuador to bring a huge crowd, all clad in the country’s yellow jerseys, — and star players in midfielders Moisés Caicedo (England’s Chelsea) and Kendry Paez (France’s Strasbourg, owned by Chelsea).
Ivory Coast’s squad, led by midfielder Franck Kessie (Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli) and forward Amad Diallo (England’s Manchester United), will play two games in Philadelphia.
Les Elephants’ second game here will be their group stage finale, June 25 vs. Curaçao — a Caribbean island making its World Cup debut.
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The Blue Wave’s history as a Dutch colony led the governing body to recruit dual nationals in recent years, and that paid off this year by topping Jamaica in their World Cup qualifying group.
This World Cup marked the first one where FIFA did not set games in venues at the moment of the draw. That caused a lot of consternation around the world.
On Friday at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, where the draw took place, The Inquirer overheard a FIFA staffer admit the truth about why that’s the case.
Before the draw, stadiums were assigned games in groups, but not specific matches. That meant any given matchup could be in one of two stadiums. FIFA’s decision to not set the venue at the moment of the draw meant it could move a matchup with less-popular teams to the smaller of the two stadiums available for it, and not worry about unsold tickets.
Curaçao’s celebrations at the final whistle of its tie in Jamaica last month that clinched World Cup qualification.
Of course, there’s so much demand in the U.S. and worldwide that every game is expected to sell out. But a supposedly “lesser” game in a bigger stadium could give a chance to fans who don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars for tickets on FIFA’s in-house secondary market.
There’s a chance Philadelphia could benefit from that in Curaçao-Ivory Coast and the city’s last group game, Croatia vs. Ghana on June 27. Croatia has one of the world’s all-time midfield maestros in Luka Modrić, and Ghana will also draw from West Philly and well beyond. But the teams’ fan bases aren’t big enough to fill the Linc on their own, so the odds might improve for local fans to get tickets.
After that, the Linc will have a week to recover before the city’s last game in the tournament, a round of 16 contest on July 4. The round of 32 games that feed into that matchup include the winners of Group E and Group I, which means Philly could see France return to town to play Germany in one of Europe’s classics.
Croatia’s Luka Modrić (right) is one of the soccer world’s most talented midfield creators.
Beyond the matchups, fans will also have an eye on kickoff times amid the hot summer weather. The city’s first two games will have nighttime starts, including a late one for Brazil-Haiti. But the remaining four will all have late-afternoon kickoffs, including a 5 p.m. start time on July 4.
As for the U.S. team, fans will be staying up late for two of its three group games. The June 12 opener vs. Paraguay in suburban Los Angeles is a 9 p.m., ET kickoff on a Friday, and the June 25 group stage finale against a European playoff winner will be a brutal (at least for East Coast fans) 10 p.m. start on a Thursday.
The middle game, June 19 (also a Friday) against Australia, will be a 3 p.m. Eastern kickoff.
All games will be played at Lincoln Financial Field, which will be called Philadelphia Stadium during the tournament because FIFA bans the use of commercial sponsors’ names on stadiums during its senior World Cups.
June 14: E3. Ivory Coast vs. E4. Ecuador, 7 p.m.
June 19: C1. Brazil vs. C3. Haiti, 9 p.m.
June 22: I1. France vs. I3. Bolivia, Suriname, or Iraq (an intercontinental playoff), 5 p.m.
Friday morning at Stateside Live! felt like a fever dream for Philadelphia sports fans.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro stood above guests on the second floor of the entertainment venue surrounded by Phang, Gritty, Swoop, and the Phanatic as they prepared for the Philadelphia Soccer 2026 World Cup final draw watch party.
“We won this bid to host the FIFA World Cup next year because we’ve got the greatest fans on the face of the earth,” Shapiro said. “The eyes of the world are going to be on Philly next year when we celebrate USA 250. … FIFA World Cup is going to be great. And let’s pray for a USA-Mexico matchup on July 4th right here in Philly.”
Josh Shapiro at the Philadelphia Soccer 2026 World Cup final draw watch party pic.twitter.com/xn7c7ImeCq
“I’ve only been able to see the World Cup one other time and that was when we lived in Orlando and it was amazing,” Gary said. “But again, it’s our hometown now and our hometown team, so it just makes it even more special that it’s going to be here. It’s Philadelphia, it’s the birthplace of our country … and it’s our country’s 250th birthday.”
The final draw was a pivotal moment for fans, as it sets the stage for what is expected to be an unforgettable summer of soccer, with the U.S. joining Canada and Mexico as host nations, and Philly being one of 11 American cities to host games.
To witness history, Jim House, 45, and his son Maxwell, 13, made the trip from Atlantic City.
“We really wanted to check out what’s happening with the World Cup,” Jim said. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience for my son and myself to hang out together and get to see all this.”
Maxwell added: “I’m really excited for the World Cup. I’ll be watching a lot of the games.”
During Friday’s draw, qualified teams — with a few spots left to be decided — were placed into 12 groups of four to make up the 48-team World Cup field. The United States was placed in Group D, alongside Paraguay, Australia, and the winner of a March 2026 UEFA playoff between Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, and Kosovo.
Gabriel Luzbet of Harrison, N.J., juggles a soccer ball during the FIFA World Cup draw watch party at Stateside Live! on Friday.
After seeing their grouping, Chester native Jared Micklos believes the United States has a good chance to advance to the knockout rounds.
“The World Cup is a tricky tournament,” Micklos said. “It’s as much about the teams as it is the order you’re playing in. I think there’s a team we know well. We just played Paraguay and obviously that was a good result for the U.S. The play-in game, if that’s Turkey, I think it gets a lot trickier. That’s a difficult team. So, if they win the playoff, our group probably gets a little bit tougher.”
Philadelphia will host six matches, including five Group Stage games and a round-of-16 match on the Fourth of July. Some fans, like 65-year-old Vorhees native George Flunt, don’t plan on missing a minute. Flunt already has his tickets for all six games, and spent a total of $11,000 to attend.
“It’s a splurge, a little,” Flunt said. “Well worth it. It’s a true world event. We don’t get too many of those here in Philly. To bring in all the different countries together and showcase how good this city is, it really means a lot.”
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WASHINGTON — Don Garber said it when MLS announced its switch to a winter-centric schedule a few weeks ago, and he said it again Thursday at his State of the League address.
The commissioner knows as well as anyone that the league needs to not just change when it plays, but how it plays to truly improve its standing on the world stage. That means loosening the roster rules, letting teams not just spend more money but have more freedom about how they spend it.
This time, he said to not just the usual audience of domestic media who cover the league all year, but a big crowd of international journalists who came to the nation’s capital for Friday’s World Cup draw. Some of them might have headed to Fort Lauderdale afterward for Saturday’s MLS Cup final between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Thomas Müller. (We can only wonder how many would have made the even shorter trip to Chester were the Union hosting.)
“One of our core principles is that we will do whatever it takes, and make whatever decisions necessary, that will define our future,” Garber said as he started to address the coming changes, including “increased investment in player development, and an evolution of our roster strategy that will elevate the overall quality of the play on the field.”
Don Garber (left) is no doubt pleased that Lionel Messi (right) and Inter Miami made this year’s MLS Cup final.
Those were some strong words, and they prompted a natural question. Just how far is the league willing to go to deliver that pledge? And in particular, how much work is the commissioner himself willing to do behind closed doors to push team owners who want to spend less than others do?
“MLS has had this view, and it’s defined the position that we’re in today, that our owners are partners off the field, and they’re fierce competitors on the field,” Garber said. “And in order to do that, you’ve got to consider the thoughts of teams that are in smaller markets that might have a different view as to what the competitive balance should be, and then those that are in larger markets and newer stadiums. You would say maybe the legacy teams versus the middle teams versus the new teams.”
Indeed, many watchers would say that, and some were facing Garber’s podium.
“Our job is to pull them all together,” Garber said of his circuit’s 30 clubs, “and come out with a competitive format and roster rules that move our league forward.”
Philadelphia Union Chairman and Majority Owner Jay Sugarman before Union played the Chicago Fire FC in a first round MLS playoff game at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., on Sunday, October 26, 2025.
‘Nudge it a little more’
He asked the next question himself, before others could.
“And how do you do that?” he said. “You know, you can listen to noise — and noise is important, because noise is really research — and get an understanding of where fans are and where is MLS in the conversation. But it’s also about metrics. What’s driving our revenue? What’s driving our ratings? What’s driving the overall sale of our commercial [product], which speaks to fan interest and what we call fan avidity?”
Garber did not need to use that jargon to back up his point that “that’s all moving in the right direction with the rules that we have.” No one, even the league’s critics, doubts that is happening. It’s just about how quickly or slowly that movement is going. And with the unparalleled opportunity that comes from the World Cup being on home turf, Garber knows it’s time to push the gas pedal.
“How do you nudge it a little more as the market gets more sophisticated?” he said. ”And that’s our job. And you’ve got to figure out ways that you go into a board room, and you wrangle a bunch of them together, and you do the work in committees, and base it on research. We try to not to be distracted by the loud voice of few, but use data to drive our decisions, and research that drives decisions, and that’s what made MLS successful.”
The Vancouver Whitecaps’ signing of German legend Thomas Müller helped push the team to its first MLS Cup final.
Garber engages more with the rest of the world’s soccer leagues than he ever has. He sits on the management board of the World Leagues Forum, along with English Premier League CEO Richard Masters and Italian Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo.
That is good company to keep, but it’s also a constant reminder of how far MLS has to go.
“[MLS is] very different from the rest of the world, which has open rules and basically can do what they want, but they have different competitive formats,” Garber said. “They have their version of the Champions League, which has its own economic value. We’ve got to think about our business and ensuring that our league is stable and moving in the right direction.”
Garber concluded his reflection by saying that the league will “continue to do what we’re doing, and push the envelope as much as we can without being reckless.”
Where the balance of that lands will define the rest of his tenure.
English Premier League CEO Richard Masters knows MLS commissioner Don Garber well.
Promotion and relegation?
Speaking of MLS’s differences from the rest of the world, Garber was given a proverbial open goal to shoot at when a reporter from abroad asked if MLS will ever have promotion and relegation, a cornerstone of the global sport.
In most of those years, as Garber went on to indicate, he thumped his shot in with a resounding no. But there is growing speculation that he might retire when his contract ends in 2027. He has not stopped that speculation in recent times, by talking about how the league will look after he steps down. He went in that direction again Thursday.
“This will be fun,” he said to start his answer. “In every single press conference we’ve ever had, somebody’s saying, ‘When are you going to have promotion and relegation?’”
That is indeed close to true.
With a squad including Medford’s Brenden Aaronson, England’s Leeds United has shown in recent years how dramatic promotion and relegation can be.
“Back in the day, I would say, ‘Never,’” Garber said. “Today I would say, ‘There’s no real point in saying never, because I don’t know what the future will look like.”
Garber admitted the league’s calendar flip influenced his thinking on that, as something he also “never thought we would adapt to.” But with that now happening, and with the lower leagues of the USL getting stronger over time — albeit in a totally separate business entity — the question continues to arise.
He stood on his longtime point that relegation is bad for team owners who invest a lot of money and don’t make it back. But when Americans buy European clubs, as happens often, they know what they’re getting into, and Garber knows a fair few of them from his travels.
“If I were to ask most European leaders of pro leagues, and many owners, whether or not promotion and relegation was good for their investment and good for the broad, macro view of the sport,” he said, “most of them will say, ‘Well, I’m not quite sure. But as a fan, I think it’s kind of fun and it’s kind of cool.’”
Don Garber, Major League Soccer Commissioner, speaks at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex Ceremony in Chester, Pa., on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
From there, he cracked open the door for a moment.
“So let’s see how it plays out,” Garber said. “Maybe as the development of the lower divisions continues to grow, as they’ve been doing so well over the years, there would be a proper ecosystem. I’m not sure — frankly, I don’t believe that ecosystem consists can exist today. But who knows? I’ve learned, never say never.”
Then, after taking a breath, he slammed the door right back shut.
“That doesn’t mean we’re having promotion or relegation anytime soon,” he said, and went on to the next question.
WASHINGTON — There’s plenty of history of World Cup host teams getting easy groups. But the soccer gods definitely smiled on the U.S. men’s national team at Friday’s draw.
The Americans got Australia out of Pot 2, the second-toughest batch, instead of the stars and skills of Croatia, Morocco, or Colombia. In Pot 3, they got Paraguay, instead of Norway’s all-world striker Erling Haaland and playmaker Martin Ødegaard.
At that point in the glitzy stage show, with President Donald Trump leading the guest list at the Kennedy Center, the U.S. knew it would get a European playoff winner from Pot 4. But even then, they got lucky, landing the bracket of Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, and Kosovo, instead of the one led by Italy.
Then, as the dust settled and the watching world looked at the results, something else became clear. At least two of the three games will be rematches of recent U.S. games, and all three will be if Turkey wins that playoff.
Mauricio Pochettino (second from right) in the audience in the Kennedy Center’s historic Concert Hall.
“It means less work,” U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino said. “We can say we’ve already done the homework because it’s fresh when we played them … It’s still six months. We need to update everything — and we know them, but they know us.”
The Americans’ opening game will be against Paraguay on June 12, the second day of the tournament, in Inglewood, Calif. The teams met last month at Subaru Park in Chester, and the U.S. won, 2-1, with goals from Gio Reyna and Folarin Balogun.
“I know they’re a very difficult, very complex team, one that has found a way to build a solid foundation, a solid base,” Paraguay manager Gustavo Alfaro said. “And that helps us understand the things we need to improve.”
Seven days later, the U.S. will play Australia in Seattle, a game that should produce a thunderous atmosphere in one of America’s elite soccer cities. In October, the U.S. came from behind to beat a physical Socceroos squad, 2-1, with two goals from Haji Wright.
“We know what to expect — a top team, a top coach,” Australia manager Tony Popovic said. “It will be obviously different in a World Cup to a friendly, but that also excites us.”
Then it will be back to the LA area for the group stage finale, on June 25 against the playoff winner.
Turkey beat the U.S., 2-1 in June in East Hartford, Conn., but that U.S. squad was missing a lot of its stars — deliberately at that point, by Pochettino’s decision. Turkey’s squad was full-strength, including star playmakers Kenan Yıldız of Italy’s Juventus (where he’s teammates with Weston McKennie) and Arda Güler of Spain’s Real Madrid.
If Romania pulls off the upset in the playoff, memories will come back of the teams’ 1994 World Cup matchup at the Rose Bowl. Romania’s 1-0 win that day was the last of the teams’ four all-time meetings, with the first in 1991 the only U.S. win.
The Union’s Quinn Sullivan (left) made his senior U.S. debut in June’s game againt Turkey.
The U.S. has only played Slovakia once, a 1-0 Slovakia win in that country’s capital, Bratislava. The U.S. and Kosovo have never played.
The European playoffs are in March. Turkey hosts Romania, and Slovakia hosts Kosovo, and the latter game’s winner hosts the finale.
Pochettino wants his team to believe it can win the World Cup. His favorite slogan lately has been “Be realistic and do the impossible.”
It’s his job to present that message, even if “realistic” for everyone else is something else. That bears saying loudly because fans who only watch the U.S. men during World Cups might take Pochettino at his word.
Mauricio Pochettino at a U.S. team practice last month.
For them, and for the team’s devotees too, Tyler Adams’ words are worth heeding.
“Everyone’s going to want us to say winning it is obviously the goal,” the veteran U.S. midfielder and locker room leader said. “Our idea is to win — that’s the goal. But I think setting the benchmark of the furthest the U.S. team has gone is also realistic. So we want to go and make a run, but again, it’s a game by game mentality.”
The farthest the U.S. men have gone at a World Cup was nearly a century ago at the first edition, in 1930, when they finished third in a 12-team field. They have advanced from their group in five of the eight World Cups they have gone to in their modern era, which started in 1990; and their only ever knockout game win was in 2002, against next-door-neighbor Mexico half a world away in South Korea.
Reaching the semifinals this time would require three knockout-round wins: in the round of 32 in the first 48-team World Cup, the round of 16, and the quarterfinals. The conventional wisdom outside the program is, and likely will remain, that success will be reaching the quarterfinals.
The U.S. men haven’t won a World Cup knockout game since Landon Donovan (center) scored to help beat Mexico in the 2002 World Cup’s round of 16.
“We have to focus on ourselves — we have to worry about how we are and who we are and what we are and the connections and the aggressiveness and the intensity and the focus,” said centerback Tim Ream, Pochettino’s captain as the squad’s most experienced player. “At some point, you’re going to have to play the best some of the best teams. So do you play them in the group stage? Do you play with the knockouts? It doesn’t really matter, right?”
What’s certain is that no matter the opponents, the games matter more now, starting with March friendlies against Portugal and Belgium. Then the U.S. will play its send-off games amid training camp against Germany and a team to be announced.
As the nation starts to tune in, it will be up to Pochettino and his players to turn that pressure into a force that strengthens them, and potentially powers a history-making run on home soil.
“I think it’s good pressure,” Pochettino said. “The expectation is good, because it puts good stress in your body.”
It will only build up over the coming months.
U.S. men’s soccer team 2026 World Cup group schedule
June 12: vs. Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif.
June 19: vs. Australia in Seattle
June 25: vs. UEFA playoff winner in Inglewood, Calif.
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WASHINGTON — We’re one step closer in learning which teams will head to Philly ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
A packed house inside the Kennedy Center featuring world leaders, celebrities, and the delegations of over 40 nations watched as their countries were pulled from pots and slotted into 12 groups in FIFA’s expanded 48 team tournament.
Lincoln Financial Field is scheduled to host six matches, five in the group stage of the tournament and a Round of 16 game on July 4. Those early-round matches will be in Groups C, E, I, and L.
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The four nations in Group C were Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, and Scotland.
Brazil, which earned its qualification following a win over Paraguay on June 10, kept its streak of qualifying for every World Cup intact. We certainly learned that Morocco, which qualified in September, brings the party, evidenced by the fanfare brought to Philly by fans of the country’s Wydad AC in this summer’s Club World Cup.
“We’re incredibly excited about the potential for what the match schedule is going to be,” said Meg Kane, host city executive for FIFA Philly 2026, which is coordinating the events in Philadelphia next summer. “I think as we look at the four groups that have the potential of coming through Philadelphia, there are some big name teams, [like] Brazil and Morocco. We got to experience their fans last summer during Club World Cup. We would welcome them back, and I think [fans would] really lean into the excitement of that.”
Moroccan fans of Wydad AC brought one of the most festive displays of celebration at the FIFA Club World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field earlier this year.
Possibly hosting Haiti and Senegal is exciting for Kane, too. It will be Haiti’s second World Cup appearance, and first since 1974. The Caribbean nation remains on the U.S.’s travel ban list under the Trump administration, however.
Haiti manager Sébastien Migné said he hopes President Donald Trump, who on Friday was awarded FIFA’s inaugural peace prize, will show diplomacy.
“[Trump] is a peace prize winner,” Migné said after the event. “Maybe he will continue, and it will open the possibility for our fans to come here.”
Kane is eager for Haitians living in the Philadelphia area to have the opportunity to see their country at the Linc.
“When it comes to Haiti, Ghana, and Senegal, I think that’s going to be potentially incredible when you consider the West African and Caribbean diaspora in West Philadelphia and across the region,” Kane said. “But looking at all the prospects, I think this has the potential to deliver [five incredible] group-stage matches. It’s really exciting.”
Philly’s group C match is on Friday, June 19, coincidentally on the day the U.S. men’s national team has a match in Group D in Seattle.
There will be two Group E matches at the Linc. That group features Germany, Curaçao, the Ivory Coast, and Ecuador. A match in Group E will kick off the series of World Cup games hosted in Philly on Sunday, June 14, with the second Group E tilt is Thursday, June 25 — another matchday on which the U.S. will have a Group D game in Los Angeles.
Curaçao, which is making its first World Cup appearance and is the field’s smallest nation by population, will be the first match for Germany, another popular team.
“I think we’re also excited to potentially see Germany appear in Group E,” Kane said. “That would be an incredible opportunity. France, in Group I, is huge, as well as England [in Group L]. I mean, really, when you think of major teams and the matches that we could have, the potential is there to really draw some of the top two teams.”
Along with France, Senegal, Norway, and the winner of a March playoff between Iraq, Bolivia, and Suriname could be in the mix for Philly’s Group I match, scheduled for Monday, June 22.
Finally, along with England in Group L, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama are together. The Linc’s Group L match, the penultimate in the series of games in Philly, will kick off on Saturday, June 27. England will open its World Cup campaign against Croatia in a rematch of the 2018 World Cup semifinal.
Brian Swanson, FIFA’s director of media relations, told the Inquirer that a decision to extend the draw an extra day to announce the venues was to “allow for greater discussion to take place on the exact locations.”
It already was known that no host nation will play group matches in Philly as Mexico (Group A1), Canada (B1), and the United States (D1) were predetermined.
Now, it’s a 24-hour wait before all 16 host cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico find out the nations they’ll host. Kane said that’s when the work begins of outreach to the various federations and understanding accommodation needs while preparing to introduce “Philly to the world” in a little under seven months.
“Once we see where those matches fall and what comes out, it’s the outreach that we’ll need to start planning in early 2026, related to which nations are coming,” Kane said. “It would have been an amazing opportunity to be in D.C. and start to be able to do that, but given that we’re not going to know until tomorrow, a lot of that outreach will be planned for in January and February.
“Looking at this list [of potential nations], there’s not a team on here where I don’t go, ‘Wow.’ There’s a passionate fan base with ties to our area on every team, which I find fantastic and is going to really meet the moment incredibly well for Philadelphia.”
Former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal, actor Kevin Hart, and former NFL player Tom Brady were among the big names at Friday’s draw.
Draw tidbits
Kevin Hart, who ended the event on stage with Heidi Klum, Tom Brady, and other celebrities gave a shoutout to Philly: “I know my guys back in Philadelphia are happy who could be coming to Philly next summer.” … Carli Lloyd, who was among the crowd at the draw noted how the men’s game coming to North America bodes well for the growth of sport — on the men’s and women’s side. The Delran native was the hero of the U.S. women’s national team’s women’s World Cup win in 2015 after her hat trick in the final cemented her legacy on the world stage. “I think it’s going to be great for both the men’s and women’s sides and we need to leverage that and harness it … to inspire girls and boys in our country,” she said. … The prize won by Trump is given to individuals who, through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world, soccer’s governing body noted. Trump called the award “one of the great honors of his life,” and touted that peace accords he’s helped broker in the Middle East, Africa, and between Israel and Hamas have “saved millions and millions of lives.”
President Donald Trump smiles after drawing USA’s name Friday.
The U.S. men’s soccer team will open its 2026 World Cup group stage run against Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif.
That will mean a meeting right out of the gate with a team the Americans just beat last month, 2-1, at Subaru Park in Chester.
The game will be played on the second day of the tournament, with co-host Mexico playing the opener against South Africa on June 11 at Mexico City’s fabled Estadio Azteca.
The Americans’ second group game will be against Australia in Seattle on June 19. That will also be a rematch of a recent game, a 2-1 U.S. win in suburban Denver in October.
Their group stage finale will be back in suburban Los Angeles against the winner of a four-team qualifying playoff between Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, and Kosovo. The playoff will take place in March.
Turkey will be favored on paper. If that’s the matchup, it would be another rematch, this one a 2-1 U.S. loss this past June, with an understrength American squad on the field.
Here’s the U.S. men’s soccer team 2026 World Cup group schedule:
June 12: vs. Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif.
June 19: vs. Australia in Seattle
June 25: vs. UEFA playoff winner in Inglewood, Calif.
The opening game for the U.S. is on June 12 in Los Angeles against Paraguay. Games to be played in Philadelphia will involve teams from groups C, E, I, and L.
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As the first 24 teams were named in Friday’s World Cup draw, a few surprises and early looks at who could be coming to Philly next summer.
For Philly, Brazil and Morocco were drawn in Group C with those two opening against each other. In Group E, Germany and Ecuador are the early entrants, France and Senegal are in Group I and England-Croatia in Group L.
The eye openers are a rematch between Mexico and South Africa, the opening match 2010 FIFA World Cup. Also, Spain will open its campaign in group H against Uruguay, and an England-Croatia rematch from the 2018 World Cup semifinal.
The USA opener is vs. Paraguay June 12 in Inglewood, Calif. The teams just met at Subaru Park last month, a 2-1 U.S. victory.
Mexico-South Africa will be the tournament’s opening game in Mexico City’s famed Estadio Azteca – 16 years after the nations met in the 2010 opener in South Africa.
Here are the nations that could be headed to Philly
Philly will host six World Cup games at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philly now knows the potential games headed here next summer as the potential nations in Groups C, E, I and L.
They are:
Group C: Brazil, Morocco Haiti, Scotland
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group I: France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff No. 2, Norway
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
The final nation is Group I will be determined by a FIFA Playoff qualifier between Iraq, Bolivia and Suriname in March.
Kevin Hart, who ended the event on stage with Heidi Klum, Rio Ferdinand and other celebrities, said, “I know my guys back in Philadelphia are happy who could be coming to Philly next summer.”
He’d be correct.
The specific games will be set Saturday. Here’s a rundown of the World Cup games that will be played at the Linc:
Host countries draw first, but we already knew the results
President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney holds their countries’ name during the draw.
As co-hosts, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada were pre-set into the group places they were drawn into among the 48 slots. The U.S. is D1, Mexico is A1, and Canada is C1.
We also already knew the dates and locations of those teams’ group games, though we don’t know the opponents yet.
The U.S. will play on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif., June 19 in Seattle, and June 25 back in Inglewood. Mexico will play on June 11, the tournament’s opening day, at Mexico City’s legendary Estadio Azteca – the site of the 1970 and 1986 finals — then in Guadalajara on June 18 and June 24 back in Mexico City. Canada will play June 12 in Toronto, then June 18 and 24 in in Vancouver.
The Philly Sports Guy Jamie Pagliei, takes a selfie with Gritty at the FIFA World Cup drawing at Stateside Live! Friday.
Almost three hours from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where the World Cup draw is hosted, Philadelphia sports fans gathered together as they waited in anticipation to learn the fates of their favorite teams — including Union season ticket holders Donna and Gary Brown.
“I’ve only been able to see the World Cup one other time and that was when we lived in Orlando and it was amazing,” Gary said. “But again, it’s our hometown now and our hometown team, so it just makes it even more special that it’s going to be here. It’s Philadelphia, it’s the workplace of our country, national team. … And it’s our country’s 250th birthday.”
If it feels to you that the draw is, to put it one way, drawn out… you aren’t alone. But it’s nothing new. World Cup draws have been spectacles for decades.
It was true the first time the United States hosted a men’s World Cup, the 1994 edition, and it remains true now. You don’t have to like it, and rest assured plenty of people with in the soccer world don’t. But it is what it is, and it won’t change any time soon.
President Donald Trump is awarded the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize ahead of Friday’s World Cup draw.
President Donald Trump was awarded the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize ahead of the 2026 World Cup draw Friday.
“This is truly one of the great honors of my life,” Trump said during a brief speech.
FIFA said the award would be given to individuals who, through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world.
Trump called the award “one of the great honors of his life,” as he went on to tout that peace accords he’s helped brokered in the Middle East, Africa and between Israel and Hamas has “saved millions and millions of lives.”
He then described his excitement for the World Cup coming to the United States, saying tickets — which are approaching 2 million sold, according to FIFA — were selling in record numbers, though there wasn’t data readily available to confirm that claim. Trump then quickly caught himself during his talk about tickets, stating that: “not to bring that up, because don’t want to bring a thing like that up, right now.”
World Cup tickets, and their exorbitant prices due to dynamic pricing models, have been major topics of discussion as well, given the confusing method for entering presales via lotteries.
FIFA has one more presale in which the lottery to enter is scheduled to open after Friday’s draw, before opening remaining tickets to the public early next year.
The announcement came about a month after Trump failed to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which he claimed he deserved. It was announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whom has developed a close relationship with Trump ahead of the World Cup.
“The FIFA Peace Prize is awarded annually,” Infantino said of the award, which was being given for the first time.
Governor Josh Shapiro attending the FIFA Philly draw at Stateside Live! in Philadelphia Friday.
Friday morning at Stateside Live! felt like a fever dream for Philadelphia sports fans as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro stood above guests on the second floor surrounded by Phang, Gritty, Swoop, and the Phanatic as they prepared for the Philadelphia Soccer 2026 World Cup draw watch party.
“We won this bid to host the FIFA World Cup next year because we’ve got the greatest fans on the face of the earth,” Shapiro said.
“The eyes of the world are going to be on Philly next year when we celebrate USA 250,” Shapiro added. “FIFA World Cup is gonna be great. And let’s pray for a USA-Mexico matchup on July 4th right here in the Philly.”
Unfortunately for Shapiro, the odds of that happening are slim to none.
Josh Shapiro at the Philadelphia Soccer 2026 World Cup final draw watch party pic.twitter.com/xn7c7ImeCq
Inside the Kennedy Center, elected officials mix with former players
Spectators gather for the 2026 World Cup draw inside the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Hello from inside the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, a legendary space in the most-famous performing arts venue in America’s capital city. Just 15 of the over 900 credentialed media have seats in the hall for the World Cup draw, and I’m lucky to be one of them.
I must admit it’s a bit of a surreal feeling for me. I grew up in D.C. (sorry to anyone who thought I was a Philly native), and attended lots of concerts and musicals in this very space. To see it converted for a World Cup draw is a strange sight — and all the stranger by the inevitable politics surrounding this day.
While walking over from the media work area, I saw a lot of familiar faces: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Cone, sporting director Matt Crocker, former president Sunil Gulati, and MLS commissioner Don Garber.
Murphy is here on behalf of the New York/New Jersey local hosting committee, and there’s a slew of former U.S. players here either in the official delegation or as media. At a quick glance around, I saw Delran’s Carli Lloyd, Heather O’Reilly, Julie Ertz, Cobi Jones, Marcelo Balboa, and former Union centerback Oguchi Oneywu — now in the official world as U.S. Soccer’s deputy sporting director.
Plus, of course, famous soccer figures from all over the world, who were inevitably stopped all over for autographs. And in the hall, there was a brief moment of applause — though only scattered — when President Donald Trump walked in.
Trump, other dignitaries arrive for World Cup draw
President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrive at the Kennedy Center. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and wife Diana. Former Brazil players Kaka (left) and Ronaldo.
// Timestamp 12/05/25 10:55am
Trump still ‘talking to FIFA’ about moving World Cup cities, White House official says
President Donald Trump holds the World Cup trophy alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
President Donald Trump, who will attend Friday’s World Cup draw, continues to speak with FIFA about moving games out of cities controlled by Democrats, a White House official said on Fox News Friday.
“President Trump is very concerned about some of these blue cities’ high crime rates, and he’s talking to FIFA,” said Monica Crowley, White House chief of protocol, adding “no decisions have been made.”
“If any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup, or for the Olympics, but for the World Cup in particular, because they’re playing in so many cities, we won’t allow it to go,” Trump said. “We’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.”
It would ultimately be FIFA’s decision to move games, a logistical challenge considering planning for the 2026 World Cup has been going on for years. FIFA president Gianni Infantino hasn’t indicated any potential moves, but has suggested he would consider shifting games from host cities if Trump made demands.
“I don’t think you can have this problem, but we’re going to move the event to someplace where it’s going to be appreciated and safe,” Infantino said in the White House last month when put on the spot by Trump.
We won’t know who’s playing in Philly until tomorrow. Here’s why.
Chelsea and Flamengo fans during a FIFA Club World Cup match at the Linc in June.
FIFA’s decision to extend its draw over two days always felt by design.
On Friday, ahead of the World Cup draw that begins at noon, an official said that doing so was nothing more than trying to make the draw “into an event.”
Historically, FIFA would announce the venue pairings before the draw, so you’d know where teams would be after they fell into group pairings. For example, the nation slotted into Group A1 would play A4 making it easy to know where those nations would be playing even during the draw.
Friday’s presentation will only place nations into groups, with Saturday at noon the reveal of where those host nations will be.
“It’s to allow for greater discussion to take place on the exact locations,” said Brian Swanson, FIFA’s director of media relations. “In some parts of the world [where we’ve hosted previous World Cup draws], kickoff times are the big story in other parts [like the U.S.], we’re just looking to generate a bit of buzz.
“Historically, we just published a PDF of that information, but it’s 2025, so we thought let’s make it into something more fun.”
There are some who beg to differ.
“I mean let’s just get it over with,” a FIFA volunteer who overheard the conversation said. “Like I get why their doing this but the suspense, to me, isn’t necessary. Also, I’m Tunisian, I don’t want to wait a day to see who we play.”
A trash can overflows with discarded items not allowed into Friday’s World Cup draw.
With heads of state from all three host nations scheduled to take in today’s FIFA World Cup draw, U.S. Secret Service is taking no chances with what is being allowed inside the Kennedy Center.
But what’s making its way into the trash cans outside is pretty hilarious. From Yeti coffee canisters valued at $30 on up to vape pens and cartridges, all had to get tossed before entering. One FIFA official joked to the Inquirer that he’d planned to collect it all and start a resale store.
Upsetting at least the media on hand is that at a briefing yesterday, FIFA relayed that bringing in canisters for water and coffee would be an approved item.
Sike.
But what’s even more confusing are the workers, guests and media from around the world who thought they’d be able to enter today’s event with pocket knives, pointers and even a Phillips head screwdriver, as observed outside one of the trash cans.
The draw kicks off at noon, but the early festivities have been the Secret Service members turned TSA, navigating what guests and media are trying to bring inside.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney (right) holds a novelty World Cup ticket alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Yes. Fans interested in buying tickets for World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field can enter ticket lotteries for individual group-stage games via FIFA’s random selection draw.
The lotteries will begin accepting entries on Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. and close at the same time on Jan. 13.
After the random selection draw phase of ticket sales has finished, any remaining inventory will be released on a first-come, first-served basis closer to the beginning of the tournament. Single-match and multimatch hospitality packages are also available through FIFA.
FIFA’s first-come, first-served phase will be the last opportunity for fans to buy tickets directly through FIFA. After that, tickets will be available only through resale on the secondary market.
— Owen Hewitt
// Timestamp 12/05/25 8:26am
Tight security as Trump, other dignitaries expected to attend today’s World Cup draw
Snow falls in Washington, D.C. ahead of the 2026 World Cup Draw.
It was snowing as the sun rose over the nation’s capital Friday, a rare sight in December. The rest of the scene around the Kennedy Center was one this town is used to: rows of giant black SUVs for dignitaries, and fences lining many blocks of sidewalks.
I got to the security checkpoint just after 8 a.m., and there were already long lines to get in and many nearby streets were closed.
The checkpoint, by the way, was up the street near the Watergate hotel — made famous by former President Richard Nixon’s scandal in the 1970s. There have been plenty of jokes about that this week among the international media who’ve come to town.
But the security operation is no joke. It’s always been the way things work when the president — whoever the president is — wants to show up at a big sports event in D.C.
Even with that, a World Cup draw is different from other spectacles.
Today, the Kennedy Center will host dignitaries from the 42 national teams qualified for the World Cup so far, plus some from teams in the final qualifying playoffs; over 900 credentialed media members, spread across the Center’s many halls; and the tournament cohosts’ heads of state — U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
It will be tight and tense inside, and some FIFA officials will no doubt wonder if they should have stood firm on having the draw in Las Vegas, where they wanted to have it until Trump said otherwise.
The World Cup draw, which will determine the groups for the round-robin stage of the tournament, will take place today at noon.
The event will be hosted by the Kennedy Center in Washington and broadcast live on Fox. Coverage of the draw will begin at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m.
FIFA’s event is expected to last about an hour and a half, with the draw itself accounting for about 45 minutes of that time.
Qualified nations have been divided into four pots based on their FIFA World Rankings positions. Pot 1 contains the nine best-qualified teams in the rankings, as well as the three cohosts.
The host nations have already been assigned to groups — Mexico will be in Group A, Canada will be in Group B, and the U.S. will be in Group D. The remaining teams will be assigned to the other nine groups, one team per group.
After all the teams in Pot 1 have been drawn, the draw will move to Pot 2, selecting one team for each of the 12 groups. The process will repeat with Pot 3 and Pot 4, resulting in 12 groups of four teams.
During the tournament, the top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout rounds. The top eight third-place finishers in the 12 groups will also advance, completing the Round of 32.
Though the draw determines tournament groups, FIFA is also looking ahead to the knockout rounds. FIFA will structure the knockout bracket so that the top four teams in its rankings — Spain, Argentina, France, and England — will not meet before the tournament semifinal, provided that they each finish first in their respective groups. It is the first time the World Cup will use a tennis-style bracket for knockouts.
Here’s a complete look at the pots that will be used Friday:
Pot 1: Canada (B1), Mexico (A1), U.S. (D1), Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese dives for a save during practice last month.
42 countries have already qualified for next year’s World Cup, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and will be included in today’s draw.
There are six spots remaining – four for the top teams in the European Federation’s 16-team playoff, and two for the top two finishers in FIFA’s intercontinental playoff tournament. Both take place in March.
Since those have not been determined yet, those six teams will be represented by placeholders in today’s draw.
Here are the countries that have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup:
Cohosts: Canada, Mexico, United States
Asian Football Confederation (AFC): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
Confederation of African Football (CAF): Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf): Curaçao, Haiti, Panama
South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC): New Zealand
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
Lincoln Financial Field will hose six 2026 World Cup games.
We won’t know which counties will play in Philadelphia until Saturday, when FIFA releases its official schedule. But we’ll get a sense who might travel here.
Philadelphia will host six World Cup games at Lincoln Financial Field – five in the group stage, and one in the Round of 16. So we know counties ending up in Groups C, E, I, and L will play at the Linc (which unfortunately means no Team USA games during the group stage, since the U.S. has already been assigned Group D).
Here are the World Cup games scheduled to be played in Philly:
