Global sports media ‘The Athletic’ commented on the 30th, “This group arrangement has revealed FIFA’s blatant strategy of having strong teams meet last.” FIFA President Gianni Infantino. New York | AP News
This is the first time in history that FIFA, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), has been suspected of blatantly taking action to ‘protect the top seed.’
The 2026 North and Central America World Cup group draw ceremony will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, USA, on December 6 (Korean time). FIFA has officially confirmed all port allocations and procedures for the competition. However, as soon as the contents were revealed, the world of soccer around the world was embroiled in heated debate. This is because there are suspicions that the method was deliberately changed to have the top seeded teams meet later to make the tournament more successful.
Spain, ranked 1st in the FIFA rankings, and Argentina, ranked 2nd, are separated into different brackets at the draw stage and cannot meet before the final. The same goes for 3rd place France and 4th place England. They do not meet Spain and Argentina until the semifinals, and they do not face each other except for the finals. In fact, some point out that this is a measure to leave the most popular countries in the World Cup until the end as long as possible.
Meanwhile, all six teams that advance to the finals through the European qualifiers and intercontinental playoffs (PO) will be assigned to Pot 4. For this reason, even if Italy passes PO in March, there is little chance of avoiding the ‘Group of Death’, surrounded by difficult opponents from the first game. Global sports media ‘The Athletic’ commented on the 30th, “This group arrangement has revealed FIFA’s blatant strategy of having strong teams meet last.”
There is another controversy. This is because the John F. Kennedy Center, where the drawing ceremony will be held, is currently under investigation by the U.S. Senate. A Senate committee is looking into allegations that the management of this arts and culture center provided space to FIFA virtually free of charge.
In response, Rick Grenell, CEO of the John F. Kennedy Center, refuted this, saying, “FIFA paid millions of dollars and covered all costs.” According to ‘The Athletic’, the actual amount delivered was about $2.4 million (about 3.5 billion won) in donations and $5 million (about 7.3 billion won) in additional sponsorship opportunities. With controversy over match-making and suspicions over cost structure ahead of the World Cup draw ceremony, this year’s World Cup is receiving more attention than ever.
Reporter Baek Hyun-ki hkbaek@donga.com
Reporter Baek Hyun-ki hkbaek@donga.com
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