A supersized World Cup field begins taking shape at today’s draw

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP):

FIFA has invited more teams than ever for a World Cup priced largely for fans in the one per cent. The process of figuring out which teams in the expanded 48-nation field will play where begins with today’s draw at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan will appear in football’s premier event for the first time when next year’s tournament is played from June 11 to July 19 at 16 sites in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

“I’m quite optimistic because to qualify you need to beat the other teams of your confederations, and that’s a sign of quality,” former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said yesterday as red carpets were installed at the Kennedy Center. “The teams are not there by coincidence.”

President Donald Trump of the US and Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico are expected along with Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney. Instead of football gear, the Kennedy Center gift shop still was filled with socks of Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Verdi along with shelves of red and white holiday nutcrackers.

The world’s top 11-ranked teams have all qualified, with No. 12 Italy among 22 nations competing in playoffs for the final six berths to be decided March 31.

Hunting records

Led by captain Lionel Messi, who turns 39 during the tournament, Argentina seeks to become the first nation to win consecutive World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Messi will look to extend his record of 26 games played and enters with 13 career goals, three shy of Miroslav Klose’s record.

Games will be played at 11 NFL stadiums along with three in Mexico and two in Canada, where construction is under way to add 17,000 temporary seats to BMO Field, raising capacity to around 45,000. Attendance will top the record 3.59 million in 1994.

“We, basically, set the new tone in terms of attendance, in terms of surrounding the tournament with a lot of entertainment and glamour,” said Alan Rothenberg, head organiser of the 1994 World Cup in the US. “We did a lot of things that kind of broke the ice with respect to how you present the tournament as something other than just a soccer tournament.”

FIFA announced initial ticket prices of $60-$6,730, saying they would be dynamic, up from $25-$475 for the 1994 tournament in the United States. It has refused to release a complete list of prices as it had for every other World Cup since at least 1990. The governing body also is selling parking passes for up to $175 for a single match, a semi-final in Arlington, Texas.

FIFA spokesman Bryan Swanson did not respond to a request for FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss ticket prices.

Sixty-four nations will participate in the draw, 30 per cent of FIFA’s members, but just 42 countries are assured of spots. Among the playoff teams, Albania, Kosovo, New Caledonia, and Suriname are trying to reach the World Cup for the first time.

With the expansion, the top two teams in each of 12 groups advance along with the eight best third-place teams. Some nations could reach the new round of 32 with three points.