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

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press WASHINGTON AP FIFA has invited more teams than ever for a World Cup priced largely for fans in the The process of figuring out which teams in the expanded -nation field will play where begins with Friday s draw at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Cape Verde Cura ao Jordan and Uzbekistan will appear in soccer s premier event for the first time when next year s tournament is played from June to July at 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 explained Thursday as red carpets were installed at the Kennedy Center The teams are not there by coincidence The red carpet is delivered prior to the final draw for the soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington Thursday Dec AP Photo Chris Carlson President Donald Trump of the U S and Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico are expected along with Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney Instead of soccer 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 -ranked teams have all qualified with No Italy among nations competing in playoffs for the final six berths to be decided March Led by captain Lionel Messi who turns during the tournament Argentina seeks to become the first nation to win consecutive World Cups since Brazil in and Messi will look to extend his record of games played and enters with career goals three shy of Miroslav Klose s record Games will be played at NFL stadiums along with three in Mexico and two in Canada where construction is underway to add temporary seats to BMO Field raising limit to around Attendance will top the record million in We basically set the new tone in terms of attendance in terms of surrounding the tournament with a lot of entertainment and glamor noted Alan Rothenberg head organizer of the World Cup in the U S 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 The red carpet is delivered prior to the final draw for the soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington Thursday Dec AP Photo Chris Carlson FIFA revealed initial ticket prices of - saying they would be dynamic up from - for the 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 The governing body also is selling parking passes for up to for a single match a semifinal 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 of FIFA s members but just countries are assured of sports 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 groups advance along with the eight best third-place teams Certain nations could reach the new round of with three points I think we re going to be in pretty good shape declared former U S midfielder Tab Ramos who during his playing days mapped out permutations for advancement We have a good band so I m not worried as much as I ve been in the past about about this draw Opta Analyst s computer projects the U S has a chance of winning the Americans haven t reached the semifinals since the first World Cup in Spain tops the forecast at followed by France England Argentina Germany Portugal Brazil and the Netherlands In a new twist FIFA commented the top four teams in the rankings Spain Argentina France and England will avoid each other until the semifinals if they finish first in their first-round groups Related Articles How to watch the World Cup draw FIFA considered Vegas for World Cup draw but logistical issues helped send it to Washington instead Trump s immigration message is colliding with his welcome to World Cup fans The World Cup draw is usually a spectacle This time FIFA hopes bigger is better World Cup draw explained Everything you need to know about the big event Specific sites for the majority matchups and kickoff times won t be broadcasted until Saturday In there were just seven night games A band s group play sites will be restricted to an Eastern Central and Western regional The World Cup draw in Las Vegas was apolitical featuring performances by Stevie Wonder Barry Manilow James Brown and Vanessa Williams plus comedian Robin Williams who called the draw screen the world s largest keno board yelled Bingo when Greece was selected This draw figures to be more akin to the ceremony for tournament in Moscow opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump who has campaigned for a Nobel Peace Prize is expected to be awarded FIFA s own peace prize that Infantino established after traveling to several events with Trump But the main event is the pulling of balls from bowls to create groups Retired tars Tom Brady of the NFL Shaquille O Neal of the NBA and Wayne Gretzky of the NHL along with three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge will assist in a ceremony to be run by former England captain Rio Ferdinand There is the angst and the looks of sheer terror and disappointment and or gratification and elation from the coaches and from the staffs disclosed former U S defender Alexi Lalas now Fox s lead soccer analyst It really gets kind of real for people