Iran threaten to boycott US World Cup as FIFA chief issues response | Football | Sport
Iran are currently ‘unlikely’ to feature in the 2026 World Cup, according to the president of the Iranian Football Federation. Iran was thrust into a war with the United States over the weekend when Donald Trump sanctioned a bombing campaign on the Middle Eastern nation.
While there are obviously bigger issues at play, in a sporting context at least, it has posed a question about the upcoming summer World Cup. The tournament is being held in Mexico, Canada and the United States, and Iran have been scheduled to play all three of their group matches in the latter.
Iranian nationals are already banned from travelling to the United States under Trump’s travel ban, which restricted immigrant and temporary visas. But bigwigs at FIFA might be left with an even bigger problem on their hands, given that talk about Iran boycotting the tournament has intensified.
Mehdi Taj, president of the IFA, is reported by Marca as saying: “With what happened today and with that attack by the United States, it is unlikely that we can look forward to the cup. But the sports chiefs are the ones who must decide on that.”
Iran have been drawn into a group with Belgium, New Zealand and Egypt, with their first match scheduled for June 16. What’s more, if Iran and the United States both finished as runners-up in their respective groups, the pair would meet each other in the last-32.
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When quizzed on the situation, FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafstrom remarked: “I read the news the same way as you did this morning. We had a meeting and it’s a bit premature to comment on it in detail. But, of course, we will monitor developments.
“We had the finals draw in Washington DC where all teams participated. Of course, our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating. We’ll continue communicating with the three host governments – Mexico, Canada and the USA – moving forward.”
The official FIFA rulebook states a replacement will be a ‘nominated alternative’ from the same confederation, usually the direct runner-up from qualifying. Asian qualification is somewhat complicated, but it could see Iraq replace Iran directly, with the United Arab Emirates replacing them in the inter-continental playoff instead.
