3 months ago
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We have our first sighting of an Australian: it’s Hugh Jackman, who is one of the talking heads for a FIFA propaganda video about their “global citizen education fund”, which I’m sure is probably a good thing, but I’m just saying. Now we’re about to cop our second musical performance from Robbie Williams (I’m counting him as an honourary Aussie) and Nicole Scherzinger, who are performing ‘Desire’, the “official FIFA anthem”, which almost certainly guarantees that it will not catch on with anyone, ever. Sorry, Robbie.
Key posts
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4.26am
Jackman is in da house
By Vince Rugari
4.25am
Infantino has taken the floor
By Emma Kemp
The FIFA president is back by popular demand, and where do I begin? He greets Klum and Hart, then greets the audience in a few different languages and for the umpteenth time in his tenure equates FIFA with global happiness (football unites the world etc etc). Then he welcomes Trump, Mexico president Caludia Sheinbaum and Canada prime minister Mark Carney.
And after that Gianni engages in some self-plagiarising, saying the World Cup will be “like 104 Super Bowls in one month”. Yep, that’s what happens when you add so many teams.
Then he tries his hand at banter, asking the Americans in the crowd to chant “USA! USA! USA!“. A less enthusiastic Canada and Mexico callout follows. I just can’t. This is so inspiring, I’m almost in tears.
While he does his thing, here are the pots and what we know of the groups so far:
4.11am
Presenters Klum and Hart have kicked off proceedings
Because when you think of World Cup football, you think of Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart.
As per Vince Rugari just now:
It took us barely a minute into the intro from co-hosts Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart to get our first cringey football-versus-soccer reference. This could be a long morning.
Klum and Hart on stage.Credit: AP
Michael Koziol had more positive reports from the auditorium about the reaction to Bocelli:
From where I am I can see Trump and Infantino in the dress circle, along with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Almost every person in the auditorium had their phone out to film Andrea Bocelli singing Nessun Dorma.Donald Trump was the first to leap out of his seat toward the end of that electric performance and give Bocelli a standing ovation.I could also see Mark Carney shake his head in awe.
Bocelli performing.Credit: AP
4.07am
An update from Koz on the ground
By Michael Koziol
President Donald Trump has arrived. He’s speaking to reporters in the Hall of Nations, a long red carpet corridor where, earlier, all the big names were photographed arriving for the draw.He’s with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. I’m not among the press pack with the president for various complicated reasons - mainly that I seem to have accidentally snuck into the actual reception.I can report it’s lovely in here, with plenty of coffee, Taittinger champagne, fruit and delicious Greek yoghurt parfaits.
4.05am
The ceremony is about to start
And Andrea Bocelli is on the stage, belting out Nessun Dorma with requisite perfection. The man can do Puccini.
3.59am
The full schedule will be released tomorrow
By Vince Rugari
That’s right, we won’t know everything this morning, but we will know roughly which teams will be playing where - just not when, exactly. Times and dates, plus venues, will be officially announced by FIFA on Sunday (AEDT).
These are the host cities:
And these are the venues tied to each group:
3.57am
Football friends and the FIFA Peace Prize
By Emma Kemp
Speaking of Trump, he and Infantino have been BFFs since they both had trials at West Ham *cough* I mean since the Club World Cup.
Which brings us to the coincidental timing of the recently created FIFA peace prize. Trump was a bit down in the dumps about being overlooked for the Nobel peace prize around the time Infantino was to meet up with him in Miami. Then suddenly we had a press release from football’s world governing announcing its own peace prize, to be awarded each year to “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”.
The inaugural one will be awarded at the draw, we expect to Trump. Here they are arriving at the Kennedy Centre together.
Infantino and Trump walk the red carpet together at the World Cup draw.Credit: AP
3.41am
Fans will flock, but has Trump scored an own goal?
By Emma Kemp
Our North America correspondent, Michael Koziol, asks this question. And yep, we are talking immigration and the border security crackdown. As he writes ...
Trump this year blocked or partly blocked entry to all foreign nationals from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. World Cup athletes, coaches, support staff and immediate relatives are exempt, but not soccer fans.
There have also been reports of people from a range of countries, including Australia, being interrogated at the US border and deported.
Giuliani said every visa decision was a national security decision, but Trump had made a deliberate effort to cut application waiting times so people could enter the US legally.
Full story here.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks alongside US President Donald Trump at the White House in November.Credit: Getty Images
3.21am
Take a walk down World Cup memory lane
By Vince Rugari
3.20am
Vince Rugari’s ultimate guide to the World Cup draw
By Emma Kemp
This is essential reading for anybody about to embark on this wild 90-minute ride. It covers the process, the pots and the plastic (lots of plastic). Also the powerful, the Popovic and the People (those aforementioned Village types). It’s exhaustive all right.
And if you study the Rugari text with an analytical mind, it feels as if Vince might be asking us a question without outright asking us a question: will this be “boring and procedural” or “kind of exhilarating”?
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The answer really depends on your hopes and dreams. So go forth and choose your own adventure. Or follow mine. Anything could happen. Do not be afraid.
Anyway, off you pop to do the required reading and then make your way back here for an open-book exam.
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