FIFA president Gianni Infantino has apologised to Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni after a bizarre mix-up at the 2026 World Cup draw forced the reigning world champion coach to wear gloves before touching the trophy.

Scaloni, who led La Albiceleste to glory in Qatar three years ago, presented the World Cup on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Argentine wore white gloves to handle the golden trophy, something Infantino admits he was unaware of until after the draw.

Arlington’s AT&T Stadium will host a tournament-high nine matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The full schedule was revealed Saturday morning.

The South American nation has progressed through the group stage in each of the last five tournaments, dating back to the 2002 tournament.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino apologised to Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni after a mix-up during Friday's 2026 World Cup draw required the coach to wear gloves to touch the trophy. Infantino invited Scaloni to lift the Cup without gloves during a separate ceremony on Saturday.

Argentina and Lionel Messi will play Algeria to open its World Cup title defense as part of a group that also includes Austria.

Some big names will be playing here, too, like Lionel Messi and Argentina and a star-studded Netherlands squad that should bring a big traveling fan base. While initial expectations were some 650,000 fans could travel to KC as part of the World Cup games, that number may now be bigger, representatives from KC2026 say.

FIFA 2026 World Cup Draw Today Highlights: 48 teams have found out their fate as they now know which opponents they'll be getting in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group stage.