Iran’s flag is displayed on a display screen throughout the draw for the 2026 FIFA Soccer World Cup happening within the U.S., Canada and Mexico, on the Kennedy Heart, in Washington, D.C., on December 5, 2025. Iran’s sports activities minister says the staff now will not play on this summer time’s match due to the U.S. assaults on Iran.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP through Getty Photographs
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Roberto Schmidt/AFP through Getty Photographs
Iran can not take part on this summer time’s FIFA World Cup match, which is being co-hosted by america, the Iranian sports activities minister mentioned Wednesday.
“Provided that this corrupt authorities has assassinated our chief and created excessive insecurity, we can not take part within the World Cup,” mentioned Ahmad Donyamali in remarks broadcast on Iranian state tv. “The gamers haven’t any security, and the situations for participation merely do not exist.”
The navy marketing campaign waged by the U.S., together with its ally Israel, started in late February. An Israeli strike on Feb. 28, partly enabled by American intelligence, killed the nation’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and different high-ranking officers. At the least 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed, in keeping with Amir Saeid Iravani, the nation’s ambassador to the United Nations.
The brand new marketing campaign follows final yr’s 12-day battle between Israel and Iran. That led to the deaths of greater than 1,000 Iranians, in keeping with the Iranian authorities.
“In simply eight or 9 months, they’ve dragged us into two wars, killed hundreds of our individuals, and dedicated grave atrocities,” Donyamali mentioned. “Below these circumstances, attending the match is unimaginable.”
The World Cup is about to run from June 11 via July 19, with the U.S. as certainly one of three co-hosts for the match alongside Canada and Mexico. Most video games will happen within the U.S., together with all three of Iran’s group stage matches, that are scheduled to happen in Los Angeles and Seattle.
It was not instantly clear whether or not Iran had formally withdrawn from the match. FIFA and the Iranian Soccer Federation didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s inquiries.
After FIFA president Gianni Infantino met with President Trump on Tuesday, Infantino mentioned in an announcement that Trump had “reiterated that the Iranian staff is, after all, welcome to compete within the match in america.”
A staff withdrawing from the World Cup so quickly earlier than it begins is with out precedent within the fashionable period.
Below FIFA laws, a staff that withdraws from a match might face a advantageous of a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} and a possible ban from future competitors.
FIFA would have broad discretion to switch Iran within the match with one other staff, equivalent to an alternate from the Asian Soccer Confederation, like Iraq or the United Arab Emirates.
