The Iranian football team is set to miss the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 after the country’s sports minister said they will not participate following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a strike carried out by the United States during the ongoing conflict involving Israel.

Iran’s Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali said on state television that the national team cannot take part in the tournament under the current circumstances. The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, and all of Iran’s group stage matches were scheduled to be held in US cities.

“Considering that this corrupt ⁠regime [the US] has ⁠assassinated our leader, under no circumstances ⁠can we ⁠participate in ⁠the World Cup,” Donyamali was quoted as saying on state TV by Reuters.

The withdrawal comes just hours after the
FIFA president Gianni Infantino met with Donald Trump and confirmed that the United States has no problem with Iran participating in the tournament.

Who could replace Iran?

Now that Iran are officially out of the FIFA World Cup, a team from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will most likely take their place. Two teams are in the picture right now – the United Arab Emirates and Iraq. While the UAE’s chances are entirely dependent on Iran’s withdrawal, Iraq could still play in the tournament even if Iran had not withdrawn.

The UAE could be the first option to step in as Iran’s replacement as the second-highest-ranked side in the region after Iraq. Meanwhile, Iraq have an inter-confederation play-off match scheduled against the winner of the Bolivia vs Suriname semi-final. If Iraq win the play-offs, they will qualify directly. Otherwise, they will likely enter the tournament as Iran’s replacement because they are ranked ahead of the UAE.

Another possibility is that FIFA could directly select the highest-ranked team in the world rankings that did not qualify for the tournament. In that case, Italy has been mentioned as a possible replacement.

Iran’s participation in the FIFA World Cup 2026 has become uncertain after the United States and Israel launched an attack in the West Asian country, killing its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Iran are part of Group G in the FIFA World Cup along with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.

Iran’s group stage matches are scheduled in American cities of Los Angeles and Seattle from 16 June, but the recent attacks on the country by the USA have put their participation in doubt.

No Iran in FIFA World Cup 2026?

The president of Iran’s football federation has declared that the national team most likely won’t take part in the football World Cup.

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

The US-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raised the risk of regional instability.

The US is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

Fans from Iran were already banned from entering the US in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration.

FIFA is yet to react to the uncertainty over Iran’s participation in the World Cup.

With AP inputs