Iran minister says country cannot take part in 2026 World Cup

Iran’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali has said the country cannot participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, casting doubt over the involvement of one of the teams already qualified for the tournament.The comments raise a live operational issue for FIFA and the local organising structure less than three months before the competition starts on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.Donyamali said: “Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup. Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist.“Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence.”Iran qualified for the expanded 48-team tournament through the Asian process and are due to play their Group G games against Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand on the West Coast, which is home to about a million Iranian Americans.That gives the issue added political and logistical weight, with team travel, security planning, scheduling and ticketing all potentially affected if the position becomes a formal withdrawal.FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said he discussed Iran’s participation with US president Donald Trump during talks linked to tournament preparations.Infantino said Trump had indicated that Iran would be welcome to compete in the United States despite the wider tensions.FIFA has not announced any change to Iran’s status and the Iranian football federation has not formally confirmed a withdrawal.Any exit by Iran at this stage would leave FIFA with a vacancy in the tournament field and a narrow window to determine the regulatory and competitive process for replacing them.