Iran has pulled out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 due to the ongoing war with the US, Iran's sports minister announced. Iran and the US are currently engaged in a war in the Middle-East
Iran football team (Pic: Reuters)
Iran's sports minister confirmed that Iran will not compete at the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will be hosted in the USA. Iran's minister of sport and youth, Ahmad Donyamali, confirmed the news to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, stating that the circumstances were inappropriate for Iranian competitors.
Iran's football squad was scheduled to play its first of three group play matches at the World Cup on 15 June in Los Angeles against New Zealand. The Iran team were placed together in a group with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.
"What has happened in the past few months shows that the conditions for our national football team to participate in the World Cup do not exist, and this team will not participate in the upcoming event," Donyamali said in a statement, according to IRNA.
"A rogue country is hosting the World Cup," Donyamali said in a separate statement to the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency on Wednesday, adding that "we expect FIFA to react to this."
"Given that a corrupt government has come and assassinated our leader, we are not in a position to attend the World Cup. Our team members have no security at all to attend the World Cup." Donyamali stated, according to ISNA.
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with games taking place across three of these North American countries. All three nations have qualified as host nations.
President Trump 'welcomes' Iran to play at the World Cup 2026
Despite the current conflict in the Middle East, US President Donald Trump will "welcome" Iran's participation in the forthcoming World Cup in North America, the White House announced on Wednesday.
Iran's participation in this summer's men's football World Cup, which is jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, has been called into question due to the conflict, which was started by US-Israeli strikes on February 28.
According to FIFA President Gianni Infantino," President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States" during a meeting to review competition preparations.
Trump's recent remarks to Infantino are opposite to his comments last week when he said, "I really don't care" if Iran plays at the World Cup.
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