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At the beginning of the events at the Kennedy Center in Washington, fifa chairman gianni infantino “This is not a normal draw,” warned.
He was saying something. It gave a highly politicized interpretation of the world’s most serious situations, from Gaza to Kosovo, which began to sound a lot like propaganda.
It is a tragedy for football that FIFA – the institution that is supposed to to serve Sports – Have taken the help of this. Somehow, another draw.
2026 world cup draw Ultimately resulting in a very disappointing spectacle.
The description already circulating at the Kennedy Center and beyond was that “it was worse than anything Sepp Blatter could have dreamed of”.
Ronan Ewen, head of Football Supporters Europe, who had previously criticized the outrageous ticket pricing that Trump praised, wondered how long “Infantino will be allowed to take football into the gutter”.
Would any federation speak out, given how their event was being used? The FA did not comment when asked Independent,
Explaining why these extreme political depictions were shown in the video Donald Trump won FIFA’s first peace award – Infantino, of course, is interjecting with the new slogan, “Football unites the world”.
“That’s what we want from a leader, a leader who cares about the people,” Infantino grumbled.
All around Washington, you can see flags and banners declaring exactly the opposite.
At the same time, reports were already coming from eastern Congo that fighting had erupted just hours after the announcement of the DR Congo–Rwanda peace agreement.
This only ensured that all seven conflicts, which FIFA was claiming Trump had played a role in ending, were close to being resolved.
This wasn’t the only moment Infantino made sure the world game looked absurd.
As the FIFA president pointed the camera at the VIP crowd, interviewer Danny Ramirez shouted that it was a party there.
Cue shots of men in suits sitting in complete silence.
As if just to nail the jinx, Trump came on stage to accept his award accompanied by US Marines. War is peace.
Why did the draw of a special event like the World Cup overshadow it? After all, this day will be remembered in Washington for this, Not a group.
The fact that three teams will go through multiple groups removes much of the threat, to say nothing of the six nations that have not yet qualified.
Otherwise much of history was repeated.
England will play Panama and Croatia, as they did at various stages in 2018, but will also have a new World Cup opponent in Ghana. It is highly navigable.
Scotland saw a repeat of much of the glamor of their previous World Cup group in 1998, when they again faced Brazil and Morocco. It is difficult.
The closest to the classic “group of death” was probably me, because France was placed with Senegal and Norway.
The same can’t be said for the hosts, some of whom, the home country and Ireland, may be lucky enough to reach the play-offs in March.
Ireland could find themselves in Group A with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. It is a group that will see the opening game of the tournament replayed for the first time when, unlike in 2010, hosts Mexico take on South Africa.
Northern Ireland or Wales could join notably vulnerable Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. The United States got Paraguay and Australia.
It’s all a bit soft, a bit like FIFA’s treatment of Trump.
However, beyond politeness toward the American president, the pervasive experience of the day was one of almost suffocating positivity. There were echoes of one of those Scientology videos in how almost everyone involved – except for distant Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum – had a look of excitement on their faces.
That’s what we’re getting now with Infantino’s FIFA: hype and comparisons with cults.
Otherwise this draw had a gaudy WrestleMania feel which is unnecessary, as the World Cup has the potential to create magic in its own right.
Perhaps not “the greatest event that mankind has ever seen and ever will see”, as Infantino said smilingly, but with an emotional purity that was not worthy of this insult.
And so it happens, Rio Ferdinand inexplicably finds himself at the center of yet another unnecessarily long video.
Still, it provided scope to present 10 more tired football/soccer jokes.
What they kept insisting was going to be “fun” was instead, essentially, very boring. At least when it wasn’t politically surprising.
Perhaps more time could have been spent on actual logistical preparation. Trump’s presence ensured that there were lines of more than 90 minutes in the heavy snow outside the Kennedy Center, as almost everyone was checked by the Secret Service.
This applies to senior FIFA staff and former players, not to mention performers. One musician complained that he had to come in quickly to warm up, because he needed to use his cold fingers to play an instrument on stage with Andrea Bocelli.
It was one of those moments that highlighted the grandeur of the World Cup, but it was also a little awkward; Bocelli is no Luciano Pavarotti.
Hosts Kevin Hart and Heidi Klum perhaps expressed the common feeling of isolation by appearing at separate events. Meanwhile, Klum elevated Infantino from mere FIFA president to “soccer’s No. 1 fan.”
He then showed why he is not doing so by talking about how “FIFA has been the number one happiness provider for humanity for over 100 years”.
As any real football fan knows, following the game is mostly about suffering, even if shared suffering.
Something like watching this draw.
There was at least one moment of lightness when Infantino revealed his UEFA past, saying: “I used to draw in a previous life, I like them.”
Then why do you try your best to ruin it?
It says a lot that Trump himself was probably the least disrespectful person on the stage outside of Sheinbaum, who didn’t want to get too close to him.
However, how close is this FIFA to Trump now? The US President, proudly wearing his new medal, said that ticket sales were “numbers higher than even Gianni had thought possible”.
In many ways the same can be said about general expectations of what this draw will look like.
“It’s in America, so it has to be a show,” Infantino had explained.
There was at least one thing that was said that day that was actually true.
