Iran’s flag is displayed on a display through the draw for the 2026 FIFA Soccer World Cup going down 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 group now will not play on this summer season’s match due to the U.S. assaults on Iran.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
disguise caption
toggle caption
Roberto Schmidt/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Iran can not take part on this summer season’s FIFA World Cup match, which is being co-hosted by america, the Iranian sports activities minister mentioned Wednesday.
“Given that this corrupt government has assassinated our leader and created extreme insecurity, we cannot participate in the World Cup,” mentioned Ahmad Donyamali in remarks broadcast on Iranian state tv. “The players have no safety, and the conditions for participation simply don’t 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. Not less than 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed, in accordance with Amir Saeid Iravani, the nation’s ambassador to the United Nations.
The 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 accordance with the Iranian authorities.
“In just eight or nine months, they have dragged us into two wars, killed thousands of our people, and committed grave atrocities,” Donyamali mentioned. “Under these circumstances, attending the tournament is impossible.”
The World Cup is ready to run from June 11 by means of July 19, with the U.S. as one in every 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It was not instantly clear whether or not Iran had formally withdrawn from the match.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 a press release that Trump had “reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
A group withdrawing from the World Cup so quickly earlier than it begins is with out precedent within the fashionable period.
Underneath FIFA rules, a group that withdraws from a match might face a advantageous of a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} and a possible ban from future competitors.
FIFA would have broad discretion to interchange Iran within the match with one other group, resembling an alternate from the Asian Soccer Confederation, like Iraq or the United Arab Emirates.
