President of Argentina Javier Milei has been invited by President Donald Trump to participate in the upcoming December draw of the FIFA World Cup in Washington, DC, Argentine outlets report.
The draw for the soccer tournament will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. on Friday, December 5. On that day, President Trump, FIFA President Gianni Infantino will lead the ceremony that will determine the group stage match compositions for the participating 48 teams.
The United States will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada. Forty-eight nations will compete across 104 matches from June 11 to July 19 2026 for the prized cup. Argentina is the current reigning FIFA World Cup champion, having won the tournament for a third time during the 2022 edition of the tournament in Qatar.
“He [Milei] will be going at Trump’s invitation and will be sitting next to him on the box,” an unnamed Argentine government source told La Nación.
Milei’s attendance was also confirmed by Argentine government sources to other local outlets such as Infobae and Todo Noticias.
“Only two presidents will be in the presidential box: Javier Milei and Donald Trump. No one else,” the source told Infobae.
Todo Noticias detailed that Milei will meet with Trump, leading to a possible signing of the finalized trade deal that President Trump announced last week with Argentina that allows streamlined access to U.S. exporters to the South American nation’s markets in return for specific tariff exceptions. Trump announced similar deals with other U.S.-friendly Latin American countries, including El Salvador, Ecuador, and Guatemala.
The unnamed Argentine government sources further confirmed to La Nación that Milei intends to build closer ties with the Argentine national soccer team, led by superstar Lionel Messi.
Both Milei and Messi spoke at the American Business Forum in Miami earlier this month, but on different days. La Nación explained that they were not able to cross paths due to scheduling conflicts, missing each other “by a matter of hours.” Milei, a Libertarian economist, Played soccer as a goalkeeper for a local Buenos Aires team before enrolling at University to become an economist.
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