FIFA To Present Inaugural Peace Prize At 2026 World Cup Draw Ceremony -

World’s football governing body, FIFA, will present its first-ever FIFA Peace Prize at the 2026 World Cup draw next month, introducing a new annual award designed to honour those who use football to bridge divides.

The world football body announced the creation of the “FIFA Peace Prize – Football Unites the World,” stating it will “reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace.”

“In an increasingly unsettled and divided world, it’s fundamental to recognise the outstanding contribution of those who work hard to end conflicts and bring people together in a spirit of peace,” The President of the governing body Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

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The inaugural award ceremony will be part of the World Cup draw on December 5th at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The event will set the stage for the first 48-team World Cup, to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026.

The announcement comes amid a notable political context. During a previous meeting, Infantino told US President Donald Trump, “We are uniting the world, Mr President, uniting the world, here in America.”

Trump had actively lobbied for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, and the White House had publicly criticised the Nobel Committee’s recent decision to award it to someone else.

The 2026 World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19, featuring a record 104 matches across 16 host cities.

FIFA World Cup Background

The World Cup was first held in 1930, when FIFA, the world’s football governing body, decided to stage an international men’s football tournament under the era of president Jules Rimet who put this idea into place.

Jules Rimet was the president of FIFA from 1921 to 1954. Rimet was appreciated so much for bringing the idea of the football body to life that in 1946 the trophy was named the Jules Rimet Cup instead of the World Cup Trophy.

The inaugural edition, held in 1930, was contested as a final tournament of only thirteen teams invited by the organization. Since then, the World Cup has experienced successive expansions and format remodeling, with its current 48-team final tournament preceded by a two-year qualifying process involving over 200 teams worldwide.