The Weird Spectacle of the World Cup Draw

There was actually a raffle at the raffle fair, but obscured by all the gas and lint. The group slots were filled, the routes revealed. In the 2026 World Cup, forty-eight teams will compete; that’s sixteen more contenders than last time. Some feared that such a dramatic expansion of the tournament would dilute the quality of the matchups, but for the most part that doesn’t seem to have happened. There are tense matches everywhere: England face Croatia early. Brazil will face Morocco. We will have the chance to see the French Kylian Mbappé, perhaps the best player of his generation, face the Norwegian Erling Haaland, one of the few players likely to rival him. Even the United States, who benefit from a favorable draw – they recently beat two of the teams in their group in friendlies – will have to rise to the occasion, which has not always, or often, been the case since their promising performance at the last World Cup. The team’s first match, in Los Angeles, on June 12, will take place against Paraguay; their friendly match last month, won by the United States, ended in a brawl.

Trump once described Infantino as a kid looking at presents under a Christmas tree, and at another time as “kind of a football king, I guess.” “Lapdog” might have been more appropriate. But all this delusion on Infantino’s part makes sense, I guess. There was a time when Infantino was a relatively well-liked Swiss bureaucrat, an unthreatening candidate for the top spot after much of his term. FIFAThe country’s leadership was ousted due to accusations of corruption and bribery. Infantino won his job in 2016, in part by promising to restore FIFAreputation – but above all by offering to send some of his FIFASociety wealth is returned to member organizations. To do this, he discussed the expansion of flagship tournaments, the development of the game in emerging markets and an ambitious and revamped Club World Cup. He used the rhetoric that Trump knows better than anyone, the language of more. He wanted more games, more host cities, more revenue – which meant, naturally, more dependence on autocrats.

He got what he wanted so far. He chaired a World Cup in the oil desert of Qatar in 2022. For this one, there will be sixteen host cities in three countries. The first round will consist of seventy-two matches divided into twelve groups. Six million tickets are expected to be sold. Price increases are already setting records. Infantino said this World Cup would be the equivalent of hosting one hundred and four Super Bowls. Perhaps he had underestimated him; Super Bowls do not require expedited visa access to Uzbekistan for ticket holders. So Infantino needed Trump, chaos and all, not only to impose exemptions to travel bans or to sell football – or “soccer,” as Trump decided – but also to promote football. MAGA crowds but also to open doors. And that’s exactly what Trump did.

There was Infantino, with Trump in Davos. There was Infantino, during the signing of the Abraham Accords. There was Infantino, along with some of the richest men in the world, on the dais at Trump’s second inauguration. There was Infantino, with Trump at a peace summit in Gaza. There was Infantino, aboard a Qatari private jet, after joining Trump for meetings in Doha. There was Infantino, at the White House for a state dinner honoring Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who played a crucial role in bringing the World Cup to Saudi Arabia in 2034, a bid that faced no opposition. It has been reported that FIFAQatar’s revenues for the four-year cycle since then will exceed ten billion dollars, more than double the revenues received before the tournament was held in Russia in 2018, shortly after Infantino’s arrival. Infantino reformed FIFAbut not as one might have imagined. Charged with changing a culture where money was passed under the table, he arguably got rid of the table. Everything is open now.

And yet. The World Cup in Qatar was a human rights disaster, but also a fantastic sporting event, featuring some of the best performances from some of the best players in history and ending with an unforgettable final. There is every reason to believe that this summer’s World Cup will have its share of disasters and that it will also offer the best of dramas. It’s a special kind of irony that most of the people who love soccer in this country are immigrants, women, or children — the ones Trump’s policies have hurt the most. But the game is protected by those who love it. I love the game, and it loves you back. ♦