The 48 nations participating in the biggest FIFA World Cup ever next summer in North America were placed into 12 groups on Friday.
The drawing ceremony took place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where U.S. President Donald J. Trump, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney joined FIFA president Gianni Infantino to represent the three countries co-hosting the expanded global soccer tournament.
“This will be the greatest FIFA World Cup ever. The greatest event humanity will ever see,” Infantino said before the draw.
“I will put it in terms that the American audience will understand,” he added. “The World Cup is like 104 Super Bowls in one month.”
Mexico is in Group A, Canada in Group B and the United States in Group D.
Friday’s festivities were hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum and actor/comedian Kevin Hart and kicked off with a performance by legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger sang the official FIFA anthem “Desire,” followed by the presentation of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to Trump.
Forty-two nations have qualified. The other six participants are still to be determined through UEFA and inter-confederation playoffs being held in March.
In 188 days, Mexico will play the first match of the tournament on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The complete World Cup schedule, including venues and kickoff times, will be confirmed at noon ET on Saturday.
The top two finishers from each group, along with the eight best third-place teams, will advance to the final 32 for the knockout stage.
The championship match will take place on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Matches are taking place in 16 cities across North America, including two in Canada (Toronto, Vancouver) and three in Mexico (Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara).
Locations across the U.S. are Atlanta, Boston (Foxborough, Mass.), Dallas (Arlington, Texas), Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles (Inglewood, Calif.), Miami (Miami Gardens, Fla.), New York/New Jersey (East Rutherford, N.J.), Philadelphia, San Francisco (Santa Clara, Calif.) and Seattle.
The pre-tournament favorites, according to DraftKings, are Spain (+450), England (+600), France (+700), Brazil (+800) and Argentina (+800).
Argentina is the defending World Cup champion, with superstar Lionel Messi leading the team to a championship in the 32-team tournament in Qatar in 2022.
–Field Level Media
