President Donald Trump, right, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino react during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Friday. (AP photo)

WASHINGTON — With eyes across the globe focused on 48 balls being plucked from four bowls, next year’s World Cup came into focus Friday when a draw determined Argentina and Lionel Messi will start their title defense against Algeria and the U.S. will open against Paraguay.

Teams from five-time champion Brazil to newcomers Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan learned their group stage opponents in the expanded 48-nation, 104-game tournament that starts June 11 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“Exciting for the island, for the people there. They’re so proud,” said Dick Advocaat, the 78-year-old Dutchman leading Curaçao, a Caribbean island country with a population of 150,000, into an opener against four-time champion Germany.

The ceremony included U.S. President Donald Trump receiving a peace prize awarded by FIFA. Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney selected the balls of their own countries from bowls during a ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Sheinbaum drew more applause than Trump.

The lead-in show was almost as long as a soccer match, with the actual draw for the expanded 48-nation tournament starting in the 87th minute. Balls with team names were plucked by famous North American athletes Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, Aaron Judge and Wayne Gretzky.

“Just watching Americans on stage and the president giving speeches and performances, it made it feel like an American event already,” said U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams, who watched from England, where he plays for Premier League club Bournemouth. “And I think we know the expectation of what it’s going to be like when we go there and there’s going to be halftime shows and there’s going to be celebrities and the big draw of, what America brings to sports.”

Three-time champion Argentina opens on June 16 at either Kansas City, Missouri, or Santa Clara, California. Specific sites for all group stage games and kickoff times were to be announced today. The Albiceleste then face Austria and Jordan in Group J. Argentina surprisingly lost its 2022 opener to Saudi Arabia before going on to win the final over France on penalty kicks.

The U.S., which reached the semifinals at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and the quarterfinals in 2002, starts Group D against Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, California. The Americans play Australia six days later at Seattle, then face Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo on June 25 back at SoFi Stadium.

The Americans had friendlies against Turkey in June, Australia in October and Paraguay last month.

Forty-two of the teams have been determined and 22 are competing in playoffs for six berths that will be decided March 31.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer