JUST IN: IRAN CONFIRMS WITHDRAWAL FROM 2026 WORLD CUP AMID CONFLICT WITH US-ISRAEL
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By ‘Sefiu Ajape
Iran’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, has announced that the Persian Lions will not take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite having qualified.
Donyamali confirmed that the Iranian national football team would boycott the tournament due to the escalating regional war triggered by joint United States and Israeli airstrikes on February 28, which killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking on Iranian state television, the minister ruled out the team traveling to the United States, which will co-host the 48-team tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
“Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” Donyamali said, according to Al Jazeera.
The decision has thrown FIFA’s plans into uncertainty just three months before the tournament begins. Iran had already been drawn in Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand, with all three group-stage matches scheduled to be played on American soil in Los Angeles and Seattle.
Who stands to gain from Iran’s withdrawal?
Donyamali’s declaration directly contradicts recent diplomatic assurances from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump had personally assured him the Iranian team was still “welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
Before the military escalation, the Persian Lions had enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, securing their place at the finals after finishing top of Group A in the third round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers with 26 points.
Following their withdrawal—the first time a qualified nation has pulled out of the tournament since India and France in 1950—FIFA regulations give the governing body the sole authority to name a replacement.
Although FIFA has yet to make an official decision, the most likely beneficiaries to take Iran’s vacant spot are fellow AFC nations: Iraq, currently scheduled for an inter-confederation playoff in Mexico on March 31, or the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which finished as the highest-ranked non-qualifier behind Iran in the Asian qualifying rounds.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Super Eagles have reportedly withdrawn from a mini-tournament in which they were scheduled to face Iran in Jordan.
According to reports cited by Pulse Sports, the Super Eagles will no longer participate in the proposed four-nation tournament involving the national teams of Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica, which had been scheduled to take place later this month.
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