The 2026 FIFA World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, which already made the tournament unusual from a diplomatic standpoint.

On December 5, 2025, Trump, Sheinbaum, and Carney participated in the official group-stage draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with FIFA President Gianni Infantino also in attendance. That event was notable for a separate reason: it marked the first in-person meeting between Trump and Sheinbaum since both took office.

After the draw, the three leaders held a private meeting focused on trade matters under the CUSMA agreement, the successor to NAFTA that governs commerce among the three nations.

CUSMA is due for a formal review in 2026. The timing is not coincidental. All three governments are aware that the tournament’s closing moment gives them a rare piece of positive shared optics to deploy before trade negotiations get serious.