Many football stars and the world media have criticized the 2026 World Cup group stage draw, as it is too heavy on entertainment and politics.
The media, as well as social networks, are flooded with the word “cringe” today when referring to the 2026 World Cup draw. The prestigious German investigative magazine Der Spiegel has an entire article just to list the reactions with this word about the event that took place in the US on the evening of December 5.
“Cringe” is a popular word among young people, referring to the feeling of shame and embarrassment on behalf of others when witnessing ridiculous, strange, and inappropriate actions or words.
On NRK, Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken commented: “This is a bizarre circus in many ways, to be honest.”
Not only him, a series of other famous figures from Europe also do not like the way football is being exaggerated and distorted like what FIFA President Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump have done. On BBC, England coach Thomas Tuchel said: “I do not like this ceremony at all, there should not be any need to add all that. Personally, I do not need it. Anyway, they have turned the event into a big stage and high entertainment. Today, clearly, football is just a sideshow, mainly the ostentation and entertainment”.
From right to left, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and US President Donald Trump announce the home team’s draws during the 2026 World Cup group stage draw at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., USA on December 5. Photo: AP
The ceremony was appropriately opened by the famous opera Nessun Dorma performed by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Nessun Dorma, which means “Nobody sleeps” in Italian, was a reminder that the event would be long, and it was. Hundreds of reporters had to line up in the snow for more than two hours to get in, pass through strict security checks, and many of them could only rub their eyes at what was happening.
Not counting the 20-minute delay from the original schedule, the total duration of the draw – corresponding to FIFA’s live broadcast on YouTube – was 2 hours, 25 minutes and 25 seconds. Aside from the fact that the three co-hosts, the US, Canada and Mexico, were already placed in groups but still needed to be redrawn for protocol and transparency from the 50th minute, it took a full 87 minutes from the start of the program for the first draw to actually be made in Washington D.C. On social network X, Scotland midfielder John McGinn sarcastically posted a video of a skeleton wearing headphones falling off a chair, alluding to the long wait.
The stage featured Robbie Williams – FIFA’s music ambassador, Nicole Scherzinger, Lauryn Hill and disco band Village People. There were also many other heavyweight stars from sports to entertainment, such as Shaquille O’Neal, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Judge, Salma Hayek and Matthew McConaughey… The host and coordinator of the draw process included comedian and actor Kevin Hart, supermodel Heidi Klum, emerging actor Danny Ramirez, broadcaster Samantha Johnson, but only one person related to football – former football star Rio Ferdinand. All of them made up a “world-class entertainment lineup” and “a global show” as FIFA promised.
But in reality, the Village People’s 1979 hit Y.M.C.A. performed by a later generation to close the “show” will probably go down in history as a failure, like Diana Ross’s missed penalty kick at the opening ceremony of the 1994 World Cup, also on American soil. That summer, according to the script, Ross had to hit the goal before it broke in half, but unfortunately she wasn’t a soccer player.
Yesterday, the Village People missed the first part of the lyrics to the song Y.M.C.A and only rushed to the stage in full force to “fix” the rest. Maybe, because they had waited so long for their performance, the band was a bit… “nervous”. But from the VIP seats, Mr. Trump still excitedly did his trademark dance moves: shaking his hips, waving his arms.
Mr. Trump danced to the disco song Y.M.C.A.
When the World Cup was first held in the US in 1994, then-president Bill Clinton refused to appear at the draw ceremony in Las Vegas. This year, FIFA moved to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, about 3 km from the White House. The famous arts venue was reshuffled by Mr Trump himself this year, appointing himself chairman of the board and firing current president Deborah Rutter. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that FIFA was renting the facility for free.
After Klum and Hart took the stage to replace Bocelli, they introduced Infantino. He immediately declared FIFA “the provider