The road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup just got a lot more star power.
On Friday (Dec. 5), Tony Award-winning actress and singer Nicole Scherzinger, Grammy-nominated tenor Andrea Bocelli, global music superstar Robbie Williams and disco icons Village People will headline the Final Draw for next year’s FIFA World Cup. The splashy affair will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where Heidi Klum, Kevin Hart and Danny Ramirez will share co-hosting duties.
The Final Draw performance comes at the end of a banner year for Scherzinger. Over the summer (June 8), she won the Tony Award for best performance by a leading actress in a musical for Sunset Boulevard, her Broadway debut. Bocelli is no stranger to World Cup festivities, having headlined the “Celebrate Africa” concert in Johannesburg, South Africa, two days before the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Fresh off his Oscar-nominated Better Man biopic, Williams’ performance arrives just a few months before he unveils his forthcoming 13th studio album, Britpop, in February. Always a welcome sight on a lineup thanks to their perennial hit “Y.M.C.A.,” Village People will close the year in the same city they performed in for several events around President Trump’s second inauguration.
In addition to buzzy performances, the Final Draw will reveal the group-stage matchups for the first-ever 48-team FIFA World Cup, which will unfold between June 11 and July 19 next year. Three nations will jointly host the upcoming tournament for the very first time; the United States will act as the main host, while Canada and Mexico will co-host. Former England captain Rio Ferdinand will conduct the draw alongside award-winning broadcaster and sports journalist Samantha Johsnon.
Not to be outdone by the entertainers, several cross-sports icons will also serve as draw assistants, including NFL icon Tom Brady, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neill, all-time ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky and New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. Another American football star, two-time NFL Super Bowl champion Eli Manning, will host the red carpet.
The Final Draw will air live on FIFA.com and on FOX this Friday.
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