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Journalism of Courage
The fickle fingers of fate were kind to defending champions Argentina in the World Cup 2026 Draw, the main event overshadowed by musical interludes, tedious montages, and FIFA bestowing the US President Donald Trump with its inaugural peace prize. Lionel Scaloni’s men (which hopefully includes his more famous namesake) would face Algeria, Austria and debutants Jordan. Coached by Ralf Rangnick, a dynamic Austria could be the lone stiff opponent in the group stage for them to navigate.
But football has savoured dramatic David humbling Goliaths storylines. Portugal, the side of Lionel Messi’s greatest competitor and contemporary, Cristiano Ronaldo, is tagged in a relatively stress-free cluster with Colombia, Uzbekistan and the winner of the Congo-Jamaica-New Caledonia play-off. Provided Argentina and Portugal helm their groups and win the rounds of 32 and 16, they would duel in the quarterfinals.
The first big game of the tournament would be the opening Group C fixture, between record champions Brazil and Morocco, who robustly reached the semifinals in Qatar. Since their seminal moment, they overcame a brief slump and claimed the AFCON last year. Brazil’s form has fluctuated; they scraped through the qualifiers, but are just finding their tune under Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti.
For the cynics wondering about the lopsidedness of group-stage games in a bloated World Cup, tasty match-ups were drawn. France are pitted in the same group as Senegal, dusting up memories of the African nation spinning one of the greatest upsets in the tournament, in 2002. Few would be surprised if history repeats, for Senegal has emerged as an African powerhouse. Another burst of nostalgia sprang when Croatia was dragged into England’s group, a repeat of the 2018 semifinal. The opening fixture of the tournament—between Mexico and South Africa on June 11—would be a repeat of the 2010 edition opener. Uruguay-Spain clash has ample historical resonance too.
There might not be a blazing group of death yet—the closest could be Group I, featuring France, Norway and Senegal. But the groups are far from a cruise for most teams. Germany have to tussle Ivory Coast and Ecuador. Brazil have to tread past a plucky Scotland too. England has to contend with Ghana, apart from Croatia. Among the co-hosts, the US has the lightest group (Paraguay, Australia and one of Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo). Mexico have South Korea; if the Republic of Ireland or Denmark qualify through playoffs, the group could be intense. Canada could potentially end up facing Italy (if they qualify), apart from Switzerland, leaving Qatar as the lone weak team.
But for much of the night, the draw seemed a sideshow. The night’s theme was Trump winning FIFA’s peace prize. At exactly the stroke of the 28th minute, just after Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger had sung the World Cup anthem Desire, the screen broke into a montage, among the several they beamed, showing FIFA’s peace initiatives. Towards the middle, the theme became clearer. It would announce the first FIFA Peace Prize. The lone challenger was Donald Trump. Minutes later, his gleeful friend Gianni Infantino handed over the shiny gold bauble of two hands holding the weight of the world, gold medal, which he immediately wore, just over his scarlet tie, and a certificate.
“We want to see hope, we want to see unity, we want to see a future,” Infantino would say. “This is what we want to see from a leader and you definitely deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize. You can always count on my support to help you make peace around the world.” Trump, in a shockingly short speech, shorter than Infantino’s ode to Trump before the peace prize shenanigan, repaid the praise in kind. He said it is one of the biggest honours of his life. He dwelled on the “millions and millions of lives we saved.” “The fact that we could do that, so many different wars that were able to end in some cases right before they started, it was great to get them done,” he said. Minutes later, before the draw, he had another shot with the microphone.
A little while ago, Infantino would straddle through his immense linguistic expertise, addressing the gathering in several tongues. He termed FIFA, the organisation he helms, as the “official happiness provider of humanity for the last 100 years.” He repeated almost the same words he uttered in the draw ceremony of the Qatar World Cup. “This will be the greatest FIFA World Cup ever. It is much more than a sporting event, it is simply the greatest event that humanity will ever see,” he said, in between trying to match Kevin Hart in trying to tickle the funny bones.
Most of the performers and the celebrity guests had a personal connection with Trump. Village People’s YMCA is his favourite campaign song, even though only one member (Victor Willis) remains of the original band. The Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who kicked off the night with the rendition of Nessun Dorma, is another favourite of his. He sang in the Oval Office earlier this year, and the Trump family is a regular at his concerts. Tom Brady, a draw assistant and Super Bowl legend, was Trump’s golf-mate for several years and adjudged the Trump-endorsed Miss USA pageant in 2002. However, their friendship has soured. But the one with Wayne Gretzky, the Canadian ice hockey legend, has only soared. He was with Trump on the night of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and attended his oath-taking ceremony as well.
The star of the night was Trump. Six months and eight days later, the attention, mercifully, could sway to football and its stars.
