A number of sports celebs will be on hand to help with Friday’s Final Draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will include Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Giants great Eli Manning.
Judge will be serving as a draw assistant, according to the FIFA announcement, while Manning will be the red carpet host for the draw.
Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and Shaquille O’Neal will also serve as draw assistants for the event from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.
“I follow soccer closely, so being part of the World Cup draw is incredibly special,” Judge said in a statement. “With the final set for New York New Jersey – right where I play – I can’t wait to see which teams will be battling for the title in our own backyard.”
The draw assists primarily help to pick the balls from the pots to determine the World Cup Group Stage pairings.
Aaron Judge will participate in the World Cup draw. Wendell Cruz-Imagn ImagesManning is a minority owner in NWSL champion Gotham FC and had star forward Midge Purce on the “ManningCast” this past Monday during the game between the Giants and Patriots.
Judge had previously explained that he has been a fan of Premier League soccer and even celebrated a home run during the 2022 season by kissing the Yankees logo on his jersey, a move picked up from the famed English soccer league.
“I’ve been watching a lot of Premier League soccer games, so I see those guys doing it, so It was just in the moment,” he said at the time.
Friday’s highly anticipated draw will place the 48-team field into 12 groups of four, with 42 countries already qualified for the 2026 World Cup and the final six nations being determined through playoffs.
Retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning looks on during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics center, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Corey Sipkin for the NY POSTFIFA used the current men’s world rankings to set up the pots that will be drawn from to create each of the 12 groups.
Next summer’s tournament is the first under the World Cup’s expanded field to 48 teams.
The United States, Mexico and Canada are serving as host countries, with the championship match taking place on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium.
FIFA is going all out for Friday’s draw, which will be hosted by comedian Kevin Hart and Heidi Klum, with Hollywood star Danny Ramirez also being part of the presentation.
Andrea Bocelli, the Village People, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger are expected to perform during the event.
