Topics: Donald Trump, Football, Rio Ferdinand, Football World Cup, FIFA World Cup
BBC Commentator Jonathan Pearce didn't hold back when covering the draw for the 2026 World Cup.
In the summer of 2026, the United States of America, Mexico and Canada will host the biggest competition in football, as the 2026 World Cup gets underway.
For the first time ever, an expanded 48 countries will compete in the World Cup, with the first game set to take place on Thursday 11 June.
Ahead of the competition, the draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place in the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, with Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand hosting.
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However, ahead of the draw US President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew the host nations from the pot, leading to a sly comment from BBC commentator Pearce.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup started at 17:00GMT, but several musical performances, interviews and a controversial award given to Trump meant that over an hour later, the actual draw was yet to begin.
But ahead of the draw, the leaders of the three host nations drew their countries out of pots in a staged part of the draw.
During this, Pearce joked about the amount of time it was taking for the real draw to begin, saying: “Hopefully the draw will be finished for the kick off of the World Cup in June”
Earlier in the broadcast, the BBC commentator also sarcastically commented on Trump being awarded with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize — Football Unites the World”.
The award, created by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a close ally of Trump, after the American President missed out on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, after Infantino claimed that Trump “definitely deserved” to win.
Reacting to the presentation, Pearce sarcastically asked: "I wonder who will win the next FIFA Peace Prize… if they have one..”
Once the draw eventually started, England were drawn in Group L, meaning their first match will be on Sunday 17 June in either Dallas or Toronto
Alongside England in the group is Croatia, who will be England's first opponents at the World Cup, Ghana and Panama who the Three Lions will play in their third and final group stage match.
Meanwhile Scotland have been drawn in Group C, where they will play Brazil, Morocco and Haiti.
