Philly is one step closer to knowing the World Cup nations headed to the Linc next summer

WASHINGTON — We’re one step closer to learning which teams will head to Philly ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup.

A packed house inside the Kennedy Center featuring world leaders, celebrities, and the delegations of over 40 nations watched as their countries were pulled from pots and slotted into 12 groups in FIFA’s expanded 48 team tournament.

Lincoln Financial Field is scheduled to host six matches, five in the group stage of the tournament and a Round of 16 game on July 4. Those early-round matches will be in Groups C, E, I, and L.

The four nations in Group C were Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, and Scotland.

Brazil, which earned its qualification following a win over Paraguay on June 10, kept its streak of qualifying for every World Cup intact. We certainly learned that Morocco, which qualified in September, brings the party, evidenced by the fanfare brought to Philly by fans of the country’s Wydad AC in this summer’s Club World Cup.

“We’re incredibly excited about the potential for what the match schedule is going to be,” said Meg Kane, host city executive for FIFA Philly 2026, which is coordinating the events in Philadelphia next summer. “I think as we look at the four groups that have the potential of coming through Philadelphia, there are some big name teams, [like] Brazil and Morocco. We got to experience their fans last summer during Club World Cup. We would welcome them back, and I think [fans would] really lean into the excitement of that.”

Possibly hosting Haiti and Senegal is exciting for Kane, too. It will be Haiti’s second World Cup appearance, and first since 1974. The Caribbean nation remains on the U.S.’s travel ban list under the Trump administration, however.

Haiti manager Sébastien Migné said he hopes President Donald Trump, who on Friday was awarded FIFA’s inaugural peace prize, will show diplomacy.

“[Trump] is a peace prize winner,” Migné said after the event. “Maybe he will continue, and it will open the possibility for our fans to come here.”

Kane is eager for Haitians living in the Philadelphia area to have the opportunity to see their country at the Linc.

» READ MORE: The USMNT will play Paraguay, Australia, and a European qualifier at the 2026 World Cup

“When it comes to Haiti, Ghana, and Senegal, I think that’s going to be potentially incredible when you consider the West African and Caribbean diaspora in West Philadelphia and across the region,” Kane said. “But looking at all the prospects, I think this has the potential to deliver [five incredible] group-stage matches. It’s really exciting.”

Philly’s group C match is on Friday, June 19, coincidentally on the day the U.S. men’s national team has a match in Group D in Seattle.

There will be two Group E matches at the Linc. That group features Germany, Curaçao, the Ivory Coast, and Ecuador. A match in Group E will kick off the series of World Cup games hosted in Philly on Sunday, June 14, with the second Group E tilt is Thursday, June 25 — another matchday on which the U.S. will have a Group D game in suburban Los Angeles.

Curaçao, which is making its first World Cup appearance and is the field’s smallest nation by population, will be the first match for Germany, another popular team.

“I think we’re also excited to potentially see Germany appear in Group E,” Kane said. “That would be an incredible opportunity. France, in Group I, is huge, as well as England [in Group L]. I mean, really, when you think of major teams and the matches that we could have, the potential is there to really draw some of the top two teams.”

Along with France, Senegal, Norway, and the winner of a March playoff between Iraq, Bolivia, and Suriname could be in the mix for Philly’s Group I match, scheduled for Monday, June 22.

Finally, along with England in Group L, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama are together. The Linc’s Group L match, the penultimate in the series of games in Philly, will kick off on Saturday, June 27. England will open its World Cup campaign against Croatia in a rematch of the 2018 World Cup semifinal.

Brian Swanson, FIFA’s director of media relations, told the Inquirer that a decision to extend the draw an extra day to announce the venues was to “allow for greater discussion to take place on the exact locations.”

It already was known that no host nation will play group matches in Philly as Mexico (Group A1), Canada (B1), and the United States (D1) were predetermined.

Now, it’s a 24-hour wait before all 16 host cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico find out the nations they’ll host. Kane said that’s when the work begins of outreach to the various federations and understanding accommodation needs while preparing to introduce “Philly to the world” in a little under seven months.

» READ MORE: FIFA World Cup 2026 draw: As it happened

“Once we see where those matches fall and what comes out, it’s the outreach that we’ll need to start planning in early 2026, related to which nations are coming,” Kane said. “It would have been an amazing opportunity to be in D.C. and start to be able to do that, but given that we’re not going to know until tomorrow, a lot of that outreach will be planned for in January and February.

“Looking at this list [of potential nations], there’s not a team on here where I don’t go, ‘Wow.’ There’s a passionate fan base with ties to our area on every team, which I find fantastic and is going to really meet the moment incredibly well for Philadelphia.”

Kevin Hart, who ended the event on stage with Heidi Klum, Tom Brady, and other celebrities gave a shoutout to Philly: “I know my guys back in Philadelphia are happy who could be coming to Philly next summer.” … Carli Lloyd, who was among the crowd at the draw noted how the men’s game coming to North America bodes well for the growth of sport — on the men’s and women’s side. The Delran native was the hero of the U.S. women’s national team’s women’s World Cup win in 2015 after her hat trick in the final cemented her legacy on the world stage. “I think it’s going to be great for both the men’s and women’s sides and we need to leverage that and harness it … to inspire girls and boys in our country,” she said. … The prize won by Trump is given to individuals who, through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world, soccer’s governing body noted. Trump called the award “one of the great honors of his life,” and touted that peace accords he’s helped broker in the Middle East, Africa, and between Israel and Hamas have “saved millions and millions of lives.”

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