FIFA president Gianni Infantino, United States president Donald Trump, Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canada prime minister Mark Carney on stage during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

On the Monday, December 8, 2025 episode of The Excerpt podcast: Did team USA land a favorable grouping in the 2026 World Cup draw? Plus, President Donald Trump wanted a peace prize and FIFA delivered. Managing Editor for USA TODAY’s Pro Soccer Wire Seth Vertelney and USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers join The Excerpt to discuss the 2026 World Cup.

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

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Dana Taylor:

The much anticipated draw for the 2026 World Cup took place at the Kennedy Center in DC on Friday. Did Team USA end up with a favorable grouping?

Hello and welcome to USA TODAY's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Monday, December 8th, 2025. A total of 48 teams drawn into 12 groups of foreign nations each will compete in Canada, the US, and Mexico for the World Cup soccer title next year, representing a significant expansion from 2022, which only had 32 teams. Here to help me dig into all things World Cup, I'm now joined by Seth Vertelney, managing editor for USA TODAY's Pro Soccer Wire. Seth, I know that you just stepped away from the draw. Really appreciate you taking the time to join me on the podcast.

Seth Vertelney:

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Dana Taylor:

Let's start with the atmosphere at the draw. USA TODAY streamed the ceremony live and with performances from iconic bands like the Village People. It seemed festive and upbeat. What's your take of how things went on the ground?

Seth Vertelney:

Yeah, it's always a little tense because everybody's waiting for the actual draw to happen, but it takes about an hour and a half of speeches and performances. And in today's case, an award for President Trump before we actually get to the teams being selected. And so it was definitely a festive atmosphere. Everybody's getting excited and the draw is kind of the unofficial kickoff. When the draw happens, that means that it's getting real. And so it's only six months away and now we know which teams are going to play each other and we can really start to break down and dissect all these groups and all these matchups. And it's really exciting knowing that the World Cup is getting so close.

Dana Taylor:

Team USA drew a grouping with Paraguay and Australia with a wildcard team, which will be chosen after games in the spring. Does that grouping seem advantageous or not, in your view?

Seth Vertelney:

Yeah, the US got a really good draw today. They ended up with Paraguay, Australia, and then a team to be determined from Europe, either Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, or Kosovo. Those four teams are going to face off in a playoff in March and one team will come out of that. But the US could have drawn much more difficult opponents. Interestingly enough, Paraguay and Australia are two teams that the US has beaten just in the last couple of months. The US played Australia in October and they beat them 2-1 in a friendly, and then they beat Paraguay 2-1 in a friendly in November.

So they'll go into those games with a lot of confidence. And the US could have also drawn a more difficult team from Europe. I think Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo were all opponents that the US will be favored against. And so when you factor in that the US is going to have home field advantage and that 32 teams out of the 48 are going to advance to the knockout stage, the US will go into this tournament with every expectation of getting through the group stage and advancing to the knockouts.

Dana Taylor:

Seth, what other teams drew groups that might position them for a good chance at making the knockout round? And also, were there any notable losers?

Seth Vertelney:

I think that when I look at some of the intriguing groups, group I definitely stands out to me. You have France and Senegal, you have a playoff winner, and then you have Norway. I think everyone was going to have their eyes on Norway because they were in pot three, which means they were along with some lower ranked teams. But if you made a list of the 10 favorites to win this tournament, you might put Norway there because of how strong they've been in qualifying because they have a superstar forward in Erling Haaland. And so to see France, back-to-back finalists drawn with Norway, that's going to be really interesting. And Senegal also always brings a really intriguing and interesting roster. And then I would also go to Group L. You have England and Croatia, two European powers that are going to face off right away. You have Ghana, a team that has had a lot of success at World Cups recently. And then Panama, tough draw for them, a team from our region, Concacaf, but they have surprised before and then certainly, they have the chance to do it again.

Dana Taylor:

Leo Messi is indisputably the most famous soccer player in the world. Some might argue with me with that, but his team is of course, Argentina. Has he committed to playing in 2026?

Seth Vertelney:

Before the 2022 World Cup, Messi said that it was going to be his final World Cup. Then he went out and won the tournament. He won the golden ball as the best player. And I think winning that tournament and the performance that he put in changed his mind a little bit as far as whether he was going to be completely done with World Cups. Fast-forward three years and Messi is 38 and still a really important part of Argentina. He's about to win his second consecutive MVP award in MLS with Inter Miami. So he's still playing at a really high level.

He has been cautious about how he talks about this World Cup. He never has said it's a given that he's definitely going to be there. But I think now that it's so close, he's definitely aiming to play. He's definitely trying to get there as healthy and as effective as he possibly can be. And if Argentina made a World Cup roster right now, Messi would certainly be on it and not just on it, but probably an important part of the team. And so unless anything changes, unless he gets injured, he'll probably be there next summer at a tournament where he'll be turning 39.

Dana Taylor:

Another legend, Christiano Ronaldo will be representing Portugal in the tournament. Will he give the team a meaningful advantage on the field? What has he said about the 2026 games?

Seth Vertelney:

He said that 2026 is going to be his last World Cup, which when you consider he's going to turn 41 in a couple of months, isn't all that surprising. But much like Leo Messi, Ronaldo has managed to remain a really effective player both for club and country into his late 30s and in Ronaldo's case, into his 40s now. He's still a really high level player for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, and he's still an important player for Portugal. So much like Messi, if Portugal made a World Cup roster right now, Ronaldo would probably be on it. He obviously brings a ton of experience, a ton of leadership, and a really strong mentality in how he approaches the game and how he keeps himself fit and able to continue being effective into his 40s. And so I would expect Ronaldo like Messi to be there next summer. And this actually, I think for both of them is going to be their last World Cups.

Dana Taylor:

There are 42 teams that have qualified. This will be the first World Cup for four of them. Who are they and what are expectations there?

Seth Vertelney:

Yeah, the four teams that are going to be there for the first time are Curaçao, Cape Verde, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. Those are at least the four teams for now that have qualified for the first time. There are some possible teams that could make it through the playoffs that would also be first time participants. But when you look at these teams, I don't think any of them are necessarily expected to go far in the tournament, but they're all really great stories in their own right. I think the team that a lot of people are going to be focused on is Curaçao because they are the smallest country to ever qualify for a World Cup. There's just over 150,000 people in Curaçao.

So it's amazing that they made it this far. They've only been able to compete as an independent nation since 2010. They were a part of the Netherlands before and they've been able to take advantage of their Dutch heritage. They have a number of Dutch-born players on their team. But another interesting aspect of Curaçao is that their Dick Advocaat, is going to be the only coach who was a manager at the 1994 World Cup the last time it was held in the United States who will be there in 2026. And so Curaçao is going to be a great story to follow next summer.

Dana Taylor:

Seth Vertelney is the managing editor for USA TODAY's Pro Soccer Wire. I cannot wait for the World Cup. I know that you can't either. Thank you so much for carving time out from the draw to join me, Seth.

Seth Vertelney:

Thanks for having me.

Dana Taylor:

I want to turn now to the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup and the political backdrop to the games. For more on that, now joined by USA TODAY White House correspondent, Francesca Chambers. Welcome back, Francesca.

Francesca Chambers:

Oh, thanks so much for having me. This is a fun one to talk about, the FIFA World Cup.

Dana Taylor:

Francesca, first, what can you tell us about FIFA's inaugural peace prize? What is it? Who got it and why?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, it was pretty much assumed ever since FIFA announced it about a month ago that President Donald Trump would win this. He had been pushing for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he did not win in October. So when FIFA said they were going to have this inaugural prize to honor an individual who had made exceptional contributions to world peace, it was pretty much assumed that it was going to be Donald Trump, especially given that the draw was taking place in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. But he did go on to win that first peace prize on Friday at the draw.

Dana Taylor:

The games are, of course, taking place under a Trump administration that's really put the spotlight on immigration. Has FIFA voiced any concerns about visas or how visitors and even players from other countries might be treated while visiting the US.

Francesca Chambers:

So FIFA's president has said that he expects this to all work out just fine. And he was actually in the Oval Office with Trump in November as the United States announced that it was going to have expedited visas for fans of FIFA who have tickets and are planning to come to the game. But there has been some concerns that have been raised since then about the president's travel ban on 19 countries, which have either partial or full restrictions on those countries and the ability of people from those countries to be able to travel to the United States. That contains exceptions for players and key members of the delegations, but that doesn't necessarily extend to fans of those countries' teams. At the same time, members of an Iranian delegation were kept from coming to the World Cup draw. This is something that the Trump administration has said will be a case by case basis and will be decided on national security grounds.

Dana Taylor:

One of the big questions here is, will there be immigration raids at the games? Has Trump or Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directly address that question?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, Andrew Giuliani, who the Trump administration has put in charge of this FIFA task force was asked about this last week, and he did not rule it out. He said that the president is not ruling out anything here at this point.

Dana Taylor:

Trump has also suggested that due to high crime rates in some cities, he was considering moving some of the games. Where do we stand there?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, the president was on the red carpet at FIFA's World Cup draw in Washington, D.C. He was asked about this again, actually, and whether or not if a city had a high crime rate, he would push FIFA to move the games. Now, he said that that's not something that he wants to do, that he wants to have to ask FIFA to do. And he said that if a city does have a problem with crime, he hopes that they would come to the Trump administration and ask them to help with that before the games are held next summer.

Dana Taylor:

The president loves the limelight, and it is, of course, a huge honor for any nation to be selected to host the World Cup. Will this be a political win for Trump if the games go smoothly?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, the president has actually joked recently about the fact that he lost the 2020 presidential election, and the fact that that now means he gets to be president while the World Cup games are being held, as well as the Olympics are taking place in the United States afterwards. One thing I would also note is that this has really put a spotlight, as you were suggesting, on immigration in the United States and how the State Department is going to be handling these visas that we're talking about. They say that they've added 450 extra staffers to consulates around the world to make sure that they can keep up with all these visa appointments and that they created already an additional 300,000 visas. They expect that to be in the millions by early next year. So this is just quite a lot of work for the United States for all of these sporting events in order to be able to host all of the people who are here.

Dana Taylor:

Francesca Chambers is the USA TODAY White House correspondent. Good to have you back, Francesca.

Francesca Chambers:

Thank you so much.

Dana Taylor:

Thanks to our senior producer, Kaely Monahan for her production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@usatoday.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Taylor. I'll be back tomorrow morning with another episode of USA TODAY's The Excerpt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump gets his peace prize at FIFA 2026 World Cup draw | The Excerpt

Reporting by Dana Taylor, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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