Iran sports minister, Ahmad Donyamal has confirmed that the nation will not compete at the 2026 World Cup this summer due to the ongoing war against Israel and the United States.
The Middle Eastern country is currently at war with the US and there has been huge speculation over their participation in this summer’s tournament, which is hosted by America, Canada and Mexico.
Iran have been drawn in Group G with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt after qualifying for the tournament, which is due to kick off on June 11. But the country’s sports minister has now officially confirmed they plan to boycott the tournament.
“Since this corrupt government assassinated our leader, we have no conditions under which we can participate in the World Cup,” Ahmad Donyamal said in a television interview.
“In view of the malicious measures taken against Iran, two wars were forced upon us within eight or nine months, and several thousand of our people were killed. Therefore, we definitely have no possibility of participating in this way.”
Donyamali’s statement comes just hours after FIFA chief Gianni Infantino claimed that he had received assurances from US president Donald Trump that the Iranian team are ‘welcome to compete at this summer’s World Cup.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
“During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” the head of FIFA said on Instagram.
“We all need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together now more than ever, and I sincerely thank the President of the United States for his support, as it shows once again that Football Unites the World.”
FIFA CEO Heimo Schirgi said: “The World Cup will go on obviously, right? The World Cup is too big, and we hope that everyone can participate that has qualified.”
The war in the Middle East is now into its 11th day and speaking on Tuesday, US president Donald Trump said that “the war is very complete, pretty much”, and insisted the US was “very far ahead of schedule”. He added: “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough”, with the US “not happy” with Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
No country has withdrawn from a World Cup since 1950, when France and India pulled out because of ‘travel costs’, with FIFA now in an extremely difficult position as the war rages on.
