U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum coincided Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw ceremony in Washington, marking the first time the two leaders have seen each other in person.
Trump, Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, leaders of the three countries hosting the tournament, took to the stage and stood at different podiums to draw the first balls of the draw.
Trump and Sheinbaum agree for the first time
The three U.S. leaders return from the stage and now take their places together in the Kennedy Center’s box of honor. President Sheinbaum between Trump and Carney. pic.twitter.com/SGW2mxxuv6
– Enrique Acevedo (@Enrique_Acevedo) December 5, 2025
In brief opening remarks, the Mexican president celebrated the fact that her country will make history by becoming the only nation to host three editions of the World Cup.
“We are proud, proud, to host the World Cup for the third time. Mexico is an extraordinary, beautiful, magical country and millions will visit our nation,” Sheinbaum said at the start of the draw.
He also recalled that Mexicans have enjoyed “the ball game since ancient times,” referring to the sport played by the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica.
For his part, Trump said his earliest memories of soccer are from when he was young and that he remembers watching Brazil’s Pelé, “one of the greats,” play.
The president congratulated FIFA president Gianni Infantino for the organization of the tournament and celebrated that they have “broken records” with the sale of tickets, long before the tournament begins.
After getting their countries out of the hype, the three leaders sat in the presidential box at the Kennedy Center to follow the rest of the ceremony, with the Mexican leader seated between Trump and Carney.
Television cameras captured Trump and Sheinbaum chatting and smiling in a relaxed manner.
The three North American leaders coincided for the first time in the same space at the ceremony after a year marked by the tariffs that the United States has imposed on its neighbors.
Upon arriving at the ceremony’s red carpet, Trump who anticipated seeing Sheinbaum and Canrey, with whom he said he gets along “very well.”
“We have a meeting scheduled for sometime after the event. We’ll talk today. We get along very well,” he stated.
This marks the first face-to-face between Trump and Sheinbaum, who were scheduled to meet during the G7 summit in Canada last June, in a bilateral that did not take place because the American returned a day earlier to Washington to focus on the crisis with Iran.
Carney, for his part, is trying to redirect relations with his neighbor after the Republican leader suspended trade negotiations in October in retaliation for the airing of a Canadian anti-tariff ad on television.
The Washington talks come after Trump indicated Wednesday that he will likely let the T-MEC, the free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, expire and seek a new trade deal with his neighbors.
Filed under: Trump and Sheinbaum coincide for the first time
With information from EFE
