Iran’s sports minister says football team will not play at 2026 World Cup | World Cup 2026
The prospect of Iran participating in the World Cup this summer appears distant after the country’s Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday that “we cannot participate under any circumstances”.
Donyamali is the first Iranian government official to address the World Cup issue since the United States, one of the co-hosts, began bombing the country with Israeli support ten days ago.
Immediately after the first airstrikes, which killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered retaliation against Israel and neighboring Gulf countries, Iran’s football federation president Mehdi Taj said “we cannot look forward to the World Cup with hope,” before clarifying that the issue would be left to the government.
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Donyamali told state television: “Considering that this corrupt regime assassinated our leader, we cannot participate in the World Cup under any circumstances. Our children are not safe and basically such conditions for participation do not exist.
“Given the malicious actions they carried out against Iran, they imposed two wars on us in eight or nine months and killed and martyred thousands of our citizens. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence.”
The timing of Donyamali’s interview appears significant, as Gianni Infantino said he received assurances from Donald Trump that Iran would be welcome at the tournament, which will also be hosted by Mexico and Canada.
The FIFA president met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday. Last week, Trump told Politico he didn’t care whether Iran would participate.
Infantino wrote on Instagram that he had discussed the “state of preparations” for the World Cup with the US president.
“We also talked about the current situation in Iran and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Infantino said. “During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is of course welcome to participate in the tournament in the United States.
“We all need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together more than ever, and I sincerely thank the President of the United States for his support, as it shows once again that football unites the world.”
Iran have been drawn with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand in the World Cup, with all of their Group G matches scheduled in the United States, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
According to Fifa’s statutes, Iran will face disciplinary action if it withdraws unilaterally, with possible sanctions including a ban from future tournaments, an eventuality that seems more likely given that Infantino has publicly pledged to get involved.
Member associations are not allowed to withdraw from competitions, and refusing to participate in a World Cup would be unprecedented in the modern era. No country has withdrawn from the tournament after the draw since France and India did not participate in 1950, citing travel costs.
Fifa tournament regulations state that any withdrawal before the tournament carries a fine of between €275,000 (£238,000) and €555,000, depending on the date of withdrawal, and triggers a referral to Fifa’s disciplinary committee, which could impose sporting sanctions.
Iran was the only participating country absent from FIFA’s planning summit for World Cup teams held in Atlanta last week.
