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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The draw for the 2026 World Cup, the biggest edition of the global football spectacle ever, will take place in Washington on Friday, with US President Donald Trump expected to play a key role.
The tournament, now expanded to 48 teams, up from 32 national teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, will take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11, 2026 to July 19, 2026.
Trump's presence at the Kennedy Center ceremony highlights his close relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has frequently visited the White House and accompanied Trump to international summits since North America secured the tournament in 2018.
Infantino's relationship with Trump is expected to see the US president named the winner of a new FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded by lottery.
Trump has made the World Cup a central event of both his second presidency and the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.
But he has not hesitated to bring domestic politics into the event, threatening to move World Cup matches from Democratic-run cities.
In a sign of global tensions over a World Cup that will have 11 of its 16 teams in the United States, Iran said it would boycott the draw because US authorities refused to grant visas to some members of its delegation.
The president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, said: "We have told the head of FIFA... that it is just a political stance and that FIFA should tell Washington to stop this behavior."
Teams qualified for the World Cup for the first time:
Pot one includes Argentina, host countries the United States, Mexico and Canada, record five-time winners Brazil, two-time champions France, four-time winners Germany, as well as Spain, England, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who will turn 41 when the tournament begins, has said his sixth World Cup final with Portugal will be his last and that he would be delighted to crown his long career with a first world title for his country.
The expanded field also creates opportunities for a small number of first-time qualifiers, including Cape Verde, Jordan and the small Caribbean nation of Curacao.
With six of the teams still undecided after playing the play-offs in March, the favourites are looking to avoid Italy, who won the World Cup in 2006 but have not qualified for the World Cup since 2014. Despite a blundering qualifying campaign, the Italians can still reach the final by winning their two play-off qualifiers.
The opening match will be played at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, which also hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals, before the tournament runs for nearly six weeks, culminating in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Due to the complexity of the tournament, teams will learn the full details of their match schedules on Saturday, the day after the draw.
Ultras groups have warned that fans could face sky-high ticket prices for the most attractive matches due to FIFA's decision to use dynamic pricing.
Prices on popular secondary market websites in the United States, such as StubHub and SeatGeek, have already increased significantly, with tickets for the World Cup final on July 19 in New Jersey starting at $7,000./" Dailysabah ", adapted into Albanian by " Pamfleti "
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