Friday December 5, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 2:13 pm PT | Updated 2:19 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney drew the first ceremonial ball in the warmup to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw event in Washington, DC today.
After the FIFA event, the three leaders of North American countries — USA, Canada and Mexico — met privately without staff. That presumably reduces or eliminates the possibility of information leaking out, but also means there could be levels of discussion that are entirely private among the three leaders.
Though it does make debriefing challenging afterward. Though around 2:15 pm a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the three leaders intend to continue working on the CUSMA/USMCA agreement.
According to CBC that trilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum — lasted 45 minutes (starting around 3 pm ET / 12 noon PT).
It’s a good sign that the three leaders seem to get along on a personal level.
That the private trilaterial meeting happened at all — and the way that it happened — is politically and procedurally significant given the trade issues that are happening between the three countries USA, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA event:
Three leaders of the three host countries of FIFA World Cup 2026™ were lined up on stage today at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC to draw the name of their own country from a clear bowl of festive balls in front of them at the podium: Carney for Canada; Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum; and US President Donald Trump.
It was a glitzy Hollywood-style game-show type event in front of thousands in a live audience.
“There are more than 200 nationalities in Canada, more than 200 nationalities in FIFA. The top 48 are coming to North America. It is going to be the biggest deal ever,” said Carney on stage at the Kennedy Centre live during the event.
===== RELATED:
NEWS SECTIONS: SPORTS | FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 | CANADIAN PREMIER LEAGUE