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The President of the United States danced in front of a village crowd, Wayne Gretzky struggled to pronounce the names of the weak soccer nations of Europe and the Caribbean – and the head of fifa Declared its governing body the official happiness provider of humanity.
And yes, the teams were divided into groups for next year’s World Cup. After all, this was the stated purpose of the meeting.
After Friday’s ceremony began, it took about 90 minutes for the draw to begin – the length of a regular football match. By then, curious casual fans had learned that FIFA doesn’t actually make less rhetoric. At least not for an event like this.
President Donald trump As expected, the proceedings were overshadowed by receiving a peace award from FIFA that was created especially for them. FIFA president Gianni Infantino called his group the “official happiness provider for humanity” – which is certainly one way to describe an institution that has been in the midst of numerous corruption allegations over the years.
Apart from Trump, Mexican President claudia sheinbaum And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – who led his countries into predetermined World Cup groups before filling the remaining spots in the 12 four-team groups – was among a number of big names at Friday’s festivities.
comedian kevin hart Co-hosted the broadcast with Heidi Klum. Gretzky, Tom Brady, shaquille o’neal And Aaron Judge assisted on the draw. Singers Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger and Lauryn Hill performed.
At the top? Yes. One can only imagine the fan revolt if, for example, the NCAA basketball tournament selection shows were handled this way. But there was no denying how many fans were attending – and FIFA were committed to making it a complete entertainment event.
trump show
When the US last hosted the Men’s World Cup in 1994, then-President Bill Clinton was not even included in the draw. But Trump is no ordinary politician, and the former real estate mogul and reality show host made sure – with plenty of backup from FIFA – that he was the effective star of the event.
First, the event was held at the Kennedy Center, a long-standing arts institution in Washington, whose leadership was ousted earlier this year and replaced by Trump loyalists. The President has jokingly called it the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
The US President was then awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize from soccer’s governing body.
“For what you have achieved in your own way, you certainly deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize,” Infantino told Trump, wearing the award’s gold medal around his neck.
The draw also opened and closed with some of Trump’s favorite music. Opera legend Andrea Bocelli, who was set to perform at the White House on Friday night, opened the draw with a rendition of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma.”
Finally, organizers brought the village people on stage to perform “YMCA”, which, like “Nessun Dorma”, is often performed at Trump campaign rallies. Trump stood up from his seat at the Kennedy Center and did his signature dance.
coffee production
FIFA wanted to elevate the ceremony with comedy, music and star-driven moments. The organization filled the two-hour-plus program with comedians, music stars, sports legends, entertaining interviews and commercials featuring popular actors Matthew McConaughey and Salma Hayek.
Some moments dazzled, some sucked. But they also signaled FIFA’s growing effort to turn draws into entertainment.
Williams and Scherzinger received a standing ovation with a spectacular performance of FIFA’s official anthem, “Desire”. Hill performed full-band renditions of “Lost Ones” and “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, pausing to acknowledge Bob Marley’s deep connection with the game before bringing in his grandson, YG Marley, for the reggae-soul collaboration.
Klum and Hart introduced a circle of sports legends as part of the extended broadcast. Hart welcomed Gretzky and Judge. Before Klum completed the sequence with Brady, she introduced O’Neal, whose 7-foot-1 frame provided an instant visual contrast with Hart.
extended area
Gretzky balked at the accent on North Macedonia and Curaçao, two teams whose qualification hopes – North Macedonia aren’t actually there yet – were boosted by the fact that the World Cup expanded from 32 teams to 48. This means the number of groups increased from eight to 12.
This made the draw even more complicated, with six of the 48 teams not even known yet. Those six will come from the March playoff, which forced the draw to use placeholders.
FIFA then had a policy of not placing multiple teams from the same continental confederation in the same group, except in Europe. For an avid fan who has studied the process, it wasn’t too hard to follow. For those unaware, there was probably a considerable amount of confusion.
nuts and bolts
The expanded field also meant that there was little chance of multiple powerhouses ending up in the same group. However, France face goal-scoring star Erling Haaland and Norway in Group I. Senegal is also in that group. In 2002, Senegal defeated France as the French tried to defend the title they had won four years earlier.
Scotland have never progressed beyond the group stages and it won’t be easy this year either. Group C also includes Brazil – Scotland have been drawn with Brazil for the fifth time in the last seven matches – and Morocco, who are 11th in the FIFA rankings.
Meanwhile, the US are in Group D with Australia (the lowest-ranked team in Pot 2 of the draw) and Paraguay (the lowest-ranked South American team in the field so far). The Americans also avoided the possibility of facing Italy or Denmark out of the European playoffs.
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AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. and Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer