Dec 05, 2025
3 min read
Amidst all the hype surrounding Washington, Friday's event should focus on kicking off football's biggest showcase.
When sculptor Joel Shaapiro created the blue, the shadow behind the JOHN F Kennedy Center for the Arts on the Potomac in Washington, he decided to take advantage of a series of elements.The figure of Matarstick Xigante means movement and strength, danger and possibility.As Shapiro himself says, it should be "configurable depending on how you look at it".
It has a beautiful home in the Kennedy Center, a great cultural center for ballet and opera, stage productions and concerts.Now the venue has a new luster as it prepares to host a World Cup match on Friday, where next summer's participating nations such as the United States, Canada and Mexico will discover their group opponents and batting styles.Because from one angle, it's clear that blue gives the pass the ball.From another perspective, this is an interesting side volley.If you squint a little, you'll see "ciao", the mascot of Italy in the 1990s.
Kennedy was an advocate of the arts and was determined to create a national center for them in the capital, trying to finance it.Two months after his assassination in 1963, Congress decided it would be named after him.
Washington DC is full of grandeur and self-assurance.It honors the most revered American presidents in style.You don't have to go far from the White House to admire the George Washington Monument;When it was completed in 1884, it was the tallest structure in the world.Or finding monuments to Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
As the eyes of the world prepare to fall on the Kennedy Center, his latest successor in the Oval Office makes a familiar run to the stage, elbows out, to remember JFK, to feel the excitement.Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he will enter the draw, confirmation is the appropriate word.The president has a window in his schedule.Never in doubt about the clean-up;Trump is not one to miss an opportunity.
No one at Chelsea will forget Trump's appearance on the podium for their club's World Cup trophy trophy trophy trophy trophy trophy and it presents at least one question for Mande Summer and Mauricio Pochettino.Should Trump be allowed into the World Cup's unlikely event?
"For sure I will give him the cup and he can lift it... no problem for me," Pochettino said."Maybe he's not a football fan and he was in a situation [at the Club World Cup] where he didn't know what to do, but it was funny. This is America."
FIFA had originally planned to draw in Las Vegas - just like for the 1994 World Cup, when the United States was the only host.Also, President Bill Clinton could not attend.But Trump lobbied for Washington, even though it is not among the 16 host countries.
Trump took another step.Friday will be one of several musical documents used as an anthem at American rallies to be used as an anthem.
Then there's the FIFA Peace Prize, the brainchild of the organization's president, Gianni Infantino, who is a loyal member of Trump's court.When the latter was, in soccer parlance, "stolen" from the Nobel Peace Prize by María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan politician, Infantino did what any good friend of a world leader should do - he created an alternative prize.There is a growing number of cynics who suggest that Trump is willing to take that amount.
If and when that happens, it won't change the simple truth: the draw isn't about Trump.It's about firing the starting gun to the top in football's most important tournament.It's about the hopes and dreams of every participant on every team;Every fan.It ranges from those associated with the famous big four nations like Spain, Argentina, France and England (in seeding order).They will be placed in different quadrants to ensure they don't miss the semi-finals, provided they win their group and advance.
And they take a new fourth place.Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde and Curaçao (in this order) will play in the first World Cup.If any of Albania, Northern Mecca, Kosovo, Minin and Caledon withdraw from the competition in March, the number of riders will increase for the first time.
It may sound trite when players and coaches talk about fulfilling their childhood World Cup dreams.But the emotions during qualifying were real.For example, the scenes of Scotland clinching their first finals spot since France 98's epic Hampden Park victory over Denmark will live in the memory forever.How about when Cape Verde won at home in Eswatini?Africa has five places, Qatar has 22. They are now guaranteed ninth.Ten will be if the Democratic Republic of the Congo wins the play-off final against New Caledonia or Jamaica.
FIFA has allocated a stadium for each group match, but will wait until Saturday to decide which teams will play in each match.A kick-off time will also be announced, which will serve as a follow-up ceremony starting at 5:00 PM GMT (noon EST).After Friday's draw, which also starts at 17:00 GMT, the teams will at least have an answer to where they are playing and know the overall region.This will be the start of an arms race for training bases, and long-explored options suddenly dwindle.
In Washington on Thursday, it was hard to see any evidence that the draw was about to take place. Or to find many locals aware of it. But it will be supersized because that is how things are over here – and not just the security for Trump.
Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart will host the event.Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger will appear.Rio Ferdinand and Samantha Johnson hosted the draw.Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Shaquille O'Neal and Aaron Judge – NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB legends – are drawing assistants.Brady and Gretzky were in Trump's VIP room during the Club World Cup final.
Tracker supporters will find it easier to send certain seniors to the US.Roberto Baggio's birth.Diana Ross Penalty Day.Republic of Ireland reach the top 16. Reach the US last 16. No more England.It's time for new legends to emerge.
