United States President Donald Trump received the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize before the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
The award has been introduced this year by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, designated for a person who has “taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace” and “united people across the world”.
It was widely expected that Trump, who arrived at the ceremony with Infantino and has made several public appearances with him in recent months, would be the winner.
That was confirmed at the ceremony in Washington DC on Friday.
As well as receiving a large golden trophy, Trump was also given a medal and certificate by Infantino before making a speech.
Trump stated he had saved “tens of millions of lives” through diplomatic interventions and had “stopped wars happening just before they started”.
“This is truly one of the great honours of my life,” Trump said, before claiming that the 2026 World Cup has set a new record for ticket sales.
“Gianni has done an incredible job. It is a nice tribute to you and the game of football, or as we call it soccer. It is beyond the numbers we thought were possible,” Trump said.
“The world is a safer place now. The USA was not doing well a year ago; now we are the hottest country in the world right now.”
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, and will take place between June 11 and July 19.
Trump later returned to the stage alongside Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney to perform the ceremonial opening to the draw.
The three leaders drew the balls of their respective nations, which had already been assigned their groups. Afterwards, the trio posed for a selfie taken by Infantino.
Mexico are in Group A – and will play in the tournament’s opening match – while Canada are in Group B and USA feature in Group D.
Trump, after repeating his comments about ticket sales, joked about the name clash between American football and what Americans generally call soccer.
“We have to find another name for the NFL,” Trump said. “This is football, we call it soccer here in the USA but it is really football. It doesn’t make sense that we call it soccer.” (BBC)
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