Get an early take on Canada’s World Cup drawSoccer journalist John Molinaro, speaking Friday as the World Cup draw was ongoing, provided an initial look at what Canada can expect — and why we won’t know the fourth and final team in Group B until March. December 52 hours agoThe full game schedule drops Saturday Sarah PetzLionel Scaloni, head coach of current world champion Argentina, places the FIFA World Cup trophy on a plinth during today’s draw. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)And so ends another World Cup draw. The matchups are settled, but fans will have to wait until tomorrow to see the full schedule – including kickoff times. We do know Canada will face Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24, with both of those games in Vancouver. Canada’s opener in Toronto on June 12 will be against the winter of UEFA playoff A, which could be Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland or Italy.A game against Italy, the 12th-ranked team in the world and four-time World Cup winner, would make for “a marquee event and just a really tough opponent,” says soccer journalist John Molinaro. If you’re looking for more coverage around the politics of today’s event, you can find a story on the private meeting between Carney, Sheinbaum and Trump here.If you’re looking for our colleague Chris Jones’s insight on the jitters of the day, you can read his analysis here.3 hours ago3 leaders ‘agreed to keep working together on CUSMA:’ PMOCatharine TunneyFrom left, Carney, Sheinbaum and Trump today. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)As the day comes to a close, Carney’s office has issued a relatively vague statement saying the prime minister “had many occasions for constructive discussions” with both Trump and Sheinbaum. “Today was about the FIFA World Cup 26 and Canada’s leadership and opportunities as we welcome the world as a co-host,” said Audrey Champoux with the prime minister’s office. “In their principal discussion, the three leaders met for approximately 45 minutes and they’ve agreed to keep working together on CUSMA.3 hours agoChris JonesCanada’s third opponent in the round robin, as we’ve mentioned, will be another European team: either Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland or Italy, depending on who wins a two-round playoff. Canada won’t find out until the playoff is decided in March.“I just didn’t want to wait to know. Too bad, I’ve got to be a little bit patient,” Marsch said.“It’s a little awkward, but whatever. It’s the World Cup, man. Let’s get ready. Let’s get ready to go.”4 hours agoMarsch confident Canada can ‘beat anyone’ at World CupChris JonesMarsch, second from left, during today’s draw in Washington. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)Meanwhile, soccer players and coaches moved into what’s called the mixed zone, a space where media can interview athletes and administrators. It’s usually after a match, but today a zone was set up after the draw.Jesse Marsch, Canada’s coach, told reporters he’s generally pleased with today’s draw but knows the team will have to rise to the challenge next summer.“It’s not the toughest, it’s not the easiest,” Marsch said of the matchup with Qatar and Switzerland. “I said this going in [today]: we’re confident in our team and whoever we were going to draw, we were going to be ready for those games and know that we can beat anyone. That still remains.“I said at the beginning, I didn’t want Norway. The fact we didn’t get Norway, that made me happy. The second pot, all those opponents would be a big challenge.”5 hours agoCarney-Sheinbaum-Trump meeting over Catharine TunneyFIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, takes a selfie on stage with U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Prime Minister Mark Carney during the draw for the 2026 World Cup. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)Carney’s office says the meeting with the prime minister, Trump and Sheinbaum is over.It lasted about 45 minutes behind closed doors.It’s unclear what was said — and what the tone was like between the three leaders. Carney is now headed to the Canadian Embassy for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, where he will make some brief remarks. 5 hours agoTrump travel ban bars fans from Haiti, Iran from U.S. Sarah PetzTrump announces travel ban on 12 countriesU.S. President Donald Trump has resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term, announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the U.S. and those from seven others would face restrictions. The new ban includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.As mentioned, Haiti is going to the World Cup for the first time since 1974 — and for only the second time ever — after defeating Nicaragua 2-0 in a qualifying match last month. But Haitian soccer fans will be barred from watching their team compete in person in the U.S., with their country being one of 12 subject to a travel ban Trump enacted in June. The ban includes exemptions for World Cup athletes, coaches, “persons performing a necessary support role” and their immediate relatives, but it still applies to fans from those countries. Fans from Iran, another country subject to the ban, find themselves in the same situation. The spokesperson for Iran’s soccer federation also said visas were denied to key members of its delegation, and it was boycotting the draw at the Kennedy Center as a result. 5 hours agoA look at the underdogsAmy Husser#TheMoment Haiti qualified for first World Cup in over 50 yearsPaul Toussaint, a Haitian chef in Montreal, tells The National about the moment he watched his home country make it to the World Cup for the first time since 1974.A combination of the newly expanded format and the host countries means that World Cup 2026 could be an underdog’s dream.Just last month, the tiny island nation of Curaçao, with a population of about 156,000, became the smallest country ever to qualify for this marquee event. The former Dutch colony takes that record from Iceland, which had a population of just over 350,000 when it qualified in 2018.Curaçao qualified after a 0-0 draw against Jamaica, using a team heavily built with players born and raised in the Netherlands. It has actively recruited from its diaspora after getting permission from FIFA within world soccer’s rules to change the national-team eligibility of five players since August.Cape Verde, with a population of roughly 525,000, also qualified for the first time this year — the second-least populous country to do so. The former Portuguese colony also turned to its diaspora for recruitment.Haiti is another notable underdog, qualifying for the first time since 1974 despite significant domestic turmoil and the lack of a usable home stadium.Coach Sébastien Migné has managed some of his players from abroad, as Haiti’s main airport has regularly been shut down in a country where armed gangs control up to 90 per cent of its capital, Port-au-Prince. The team also played all its home games in Curaçao, as it was too dangerous to do so in Haiti.Other first-time entrants include Jordan and Uzbekistan, while New Caledonia and Suriname are still in the hunt for a qualifying spot.5 hours agoWhere’s the ‘group of death’? Anya ZoledziowskiA screen shows the final groupings after Friday’s official FIFA World Cup 2026 draw. (Jia Haocheng/Getty Images)One of the most exciting parts of watching the FIFA World Cup draw is trying to figure out the “group of death” — the most competitive group, stacked with high-ranking teams and legitimate tournament contenders. This year there isn’t a clear group of death — though many reports are declaring Group L the most likely candidate. Group L has England (ranked No. 4) and Croatia (10) slated to play early on. Ghana (72) and Panama (30) are unlikely to challenge the powerhouses. But Ghana, a powerhouse in its own right, could be a wildcard, while Panama could pull a surprise.Group F also looks fairly competitive, with the Netherlands (7), Japan (18), Tunisia (40) and the winner of UEFA playoff B — either Ukraine, Poland, Albania or Sweden. But overall the 48 competitors seem pretty well shuffled. It’s likely that the tournament expansion from 32 teams diluted the pot somewhat. Still, there’s lots of drama ahead, with some intense matches coming up. Croatia vs. England, a rematch of the 2018 semifinal, will be one to watch. And if Italy qualifies, Canada will have to prepare for a hard battle on home turf. 6 hours ago3 host leaders now meeting Catharine TunneyU.S. President Donald Trump talks to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the end of the draw for the 2026 World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington. (Dan Mullan/The Associated Press)After sitting through the draw and the Village People, Carney, Sheinbaum and Trump are now meeting privately — where the state of trade negotiations will likely be raised.Despite breaking off talks with Canada at the end of October, Trump sounded in good spirits earlier today when talking about his North American trade partners.”We’re getting along very well,” he said on the red carpet before the show began. “We’ll discuss trade.”6 hours agoViewing numbers in the billionsSarah PetzArgentina’s captain Lionel Messi, sitting centre, holds the FIFA World Cup trophy on board a bus during victory celebrations in Argentina in 2022. (Tomas Cuesta/AFP/Getty Images)The FIFA World Cup tournament, which runs every four years, is one of the most-watched sporting events in the world, with viewership eclipsing most other sporting spectacles. FIFA estimated nearly 1.42 billion people watched the 2022 final in Qatar between France and Argentina on either television or digital platforms, the highest viewership ever for a World Cup final. To put that number into perspective, it’s almost 20 per cent of the global population and more than 10 times the 127.7 million estimated to have tuned in to this year’s Super Bowl. Over the entirety of the 2022 tournament, FIFA has estimated close to five billion fans watched in some form or another. Only the Olympics come close to that kind of global viewership. Research conducted for the International Olympic Committee suggests around five billion people watched the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris at some point.
FIFA World Cup 2026: How the draw played out, from the matchups to the politics
