The 2026 World Cup draw takes place in Washington DC
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 December 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Groups for the next men's world cup are revealed at a glitzy gala - and President Trump gets the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize. We hear about the teams and matches, and speak to Politico reporter Sophia Cai about the warm relationship between Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Also in the programme: Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros in major media deal; and the acclaimed architect Frank Gehry has died at the age of 96.
(Photo: FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw. Credit: WILL OLIVER/EPA/Shutterstock)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.2 | Hello and welcome to News Hour live here on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:14.1 | We're coming to you from London. |
| 0:15.7 | I'm Krupa Bhati and it's very good to have you with us. |
| 0:18.5 | The 2026 World Cup draw has taken place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. |
| 0:25.6 | Amid a snowy backdrop and lots of glitz and glamour, the event was more than simply pulling names out of a hat. |
| 0:32.4 | It was hosted by the supermodel Heidi Klam and actors Kevin Hart and Danny Ramirez with live music from |
| 0:39.8 | Andrea Bocelli as well as Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger. |
| 0:55.4 | The numbers say it all. It's a beautiful game and the dream is coming to dreams. |
| 0:58.5 | The numbers say it all. |
| 0:59.5 | Are you ready for them? |
| 1:05.4 | 104 games being played across 39 days, across four time zones and three countries. |
| 1:09.8 | At least 16 host cities, which are almost 3,000 miles apart. |
| 1:11.3 | Get your head around those figures. |
| 1:17.0 | Joining me now with more details is the BBC sports correspondent, John Murray. John, welcome to NewsHour. What an event. You were there. Yes, it was all that you said there, the glitz and the |
| 1:26.6 | Rasmataz, but also it was a marathon. |
| 1:30.4 | We knew it was going to last round about two hours, and remember this is going to be the biggest |
| 1:35.3 | World Cup ever with 48 teams involved for the first time. Well, the biggest World Cup ever had |
| 1:41.0 | a draw to match it, and in the end it lasted for over two hours and the |
| 1:45.3 | main body of the draw itself when we found out the makeup of the groups that lasted on its own |
| 1:51.2 | 87 minutes so it's a little bit of a survival of the fitness but we've got through there and we know |
| 1:56.3 | we know now what the groups will be right talk. Talk us through how these groups have shaped up. |
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