Nicole Scherzinger joins star-studded lineup for World Cup final draw

NEW YORK — Filipino American Broadway star Nicole Scherzinger will be one of the headliners at the Final Draw show for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, joining a star-studded entertainment lineup at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Friday.  

The Tony-winning, Grammy-nominated singer and former frontwoman of the Pussycat Dolls will perform with British pop star Robbie Williams, while Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will deliver a separate live set before a global television audience.

You may like: Trump’s immigration message collides with his welcome to World Cup fans

The draw show, scheduled for noon Eastern time, will reveal the group-stage matchups for the expanded 48-team men’s tournament that will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.  

The event is billed as a major milestone on the road to the first World Cup spread across three countries and the first edition with an enlarged field, promising more matches, venues and storylines across North America.

Star-studded show

Supermodel, producer and television personality Heidi Klum and comedian-actor Kevin Hart will co-host the show from the Kennedy Center’s main stage.  

Actor and producer Danny Ramirez, whose credits include “Top Gun: Maverick” and roles in the Marvel and “The Last of Us” franchises, will engage current and former players and other guests to add a Hollywood flavor to the football showcase.

Scherzinger’s appearance adds a strong Filipino American presence to one of the most-watched World Cup lead-up events.  

In addition to her chart-topping success with the Pussycat Dolls, she has built a wide-ranging career on stage and screen, including a Tony Award-winning turn in “Sunset Blvd.,” an Olivier-nominated role in a West End revival of “Cats” and voice work in the animated films “Moana” and “Moana 2.”  

She has also fronted major television franchises such as “The X Factor,” “Australia’s Got Talent,” “The Masked Singer” and a recent Netflix music competition series.

Bocelli, one of the world’s most recognizable classical voices, has sold more than 90 million records and performed at global events that include the Olympic Games and World Expos, building a crossover appeal that reaches far beyond opera. 

Williams, a FIFA music ambassador, ranks among the best-selling British recording artists, with tens of millions of albums sold and a record haul of BRIT Awards, and remains a stadium headliner in Europe and beyond.

Village People to perform ‘Y.M.C.A.’

Once the draw concludes, disco legends Village People will close the evening with their signature hit “Y.M.C.A.,” a song that has become a staple of sports arenas and celebrations worldwide and is now preserved both in the US National Recording Registry and the Grammy Hall of Fame.  

The group, formed in the late 1970s around original lead singer and songwriter Victor Willis, still tours internationally and continues to reach new audiences nearly five decades after its breakthrough.

FIFA said the show’s entertainment lineup is separate from the officials who will oversee the technical side of the draw, including the conductors and assistants responsible for handling the bowls and balls that determine each team’s place in the bracket.  

The governing body plans to release the names of those participants closer to the event, along with more information about ceremony details and protocol.

The Final Draw will be carried live on FIFA’s official website and World Cup social media channels and distributed through broadcast partners around the world.  

The post Nicole Scherzinger joins star-studded lineup for World Cup final draw appeared first on USNewsRank.