What a World Cup draw ceremony that was, with multiple musical performances, cameo roles from world leaders and sporting legends, and a newly created peace prize that raised more questions than answers.
Now that all is said and done, we know how the groups will look at next year’s tournament.
The US will be particularly happy with its draw. It managed to avoid some of the bigger teams and will feel confident about progressing into the knockout stages.
The US Men’s National Team was drawn against Australia, Paraguay and the winner of the European Playoff C — which will be one of Slovakia, Kosovo, Turkey or Romania.
Before the draw was made, US manager Mauricio Pochettino told CNN Sports that his team’s target was to win the World Cup. Although that still seems unlikely, the draw could have been a lot less kind to the current world No. 14.
Elsewhere, early favorite Spain will certainly be happy with its draw, being pitted against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
Reigning champion Argentina and contender England also got away slightly lightly on paper, but anything can happen when play gets underway in June.
Another winner on the night, of course, was Donald Trump. The US president featured prominently as a host at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and walked away with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize award.
He was handed the newly created accolade — for which the selection process was unclear — by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a vocal backer of Trump’s thus-far-unsuccessful bid for a Nobel Peace Prize.
I’ll caveat this by saying no team that qualified for the World Cup can be too disappointed. But some teams now face an uphill struggle.
All those in Group I will be fearing the worst, with a host of talent set to play against each other early. Qatar 2022 runner-up France will face Norway, Senegal and the winner of FIFA Playoff 2 — one of Bolivia, Suriname or Iraq.
France and Norway boast world-class players, meaning the task ahead for Senegal and the playoff winner is going to be very hard. Call it this year’s “group of death.”
Tournament debutant Curaçao also faces a challenge, being drawn against Germany, Ivory Coast and Ecuador, who many are suggesting are a dark horse for next summer.
Curaçao will play four-time winner Germany in its first match but, in truth, that’s probably exactly the type of game it wanted.
