Iran questions 2026 World Cup participation following US-Israel strikes

The Iranian football federation does not view the World Cup in a positive light after the strikes carried out by Israel against Iran with the help of the United States.

Iran has qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place this summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Iran is currently scheduled to face New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to begin their Group G match on June 15.

However, the president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, gave a gloomy view of the tournament for his country.

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Iranian players celebrate after the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Group A match between Iran and Uzbekistan at Azadi Stadium on March 25, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. The Iranian national football team celebrated their qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu)

“What is certain is that after this attack we cannot look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 on Sunday.

“The American regime has attacked our homeland, and this is an incident that will not go unanswered.”

Andrew Guiliani, director of the White House World Cup task force, had this to say about the situation on Saturday.

“We will discuss football games tomorrow. Tonight we celebrate their opportunity for freedom,” he wrote on X.

FIFA also said it would monitor the situation with Iran.

The Iranian national team will also not prepare for the World Cup, as a 40-day mourning period is in effect following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

If Iran participates in the World Cup, athletes, officials and their family members will be considered an exception to enter the United States, as President Donald Trump has already mentioned. Iran is among the countries whose citizens cannot enter the United States

Mehdi Taremi of Iran celebrates after scoring a goal during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Group A match between Iran and Uzbekistan at Azadi Stadium on March 25, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu)

Since Saturday’s U.S. and Israeli strike, Iran has responded by firing missiles and drones at it and countries in the region that host U.S. allies or military bases, including Bahrain and Qatar.

Fox News Digital has learned that the Israeli national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the backlash, with the Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) issuing a statement announcing that the violence had caused “unavoidable disruption.”

“The current security situation in our region has led to unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the professional plans of the national teams, especially as we are at the start of the international season,” the statement said.

Iranian players pose for a team photo before the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asia Qualifiers Group A soccer match between Iran and North Korea at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran on June 10, 2025. (ATTA KENARE/AFP)

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A source within the team also told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since the Iranian counterattacks began.

Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest barrage of missiles landed just miles from Jerusalem. The strikes hit the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh.

Jackson Thompson of Fox News contributed to this report.

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