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Tehran’s Football Federation has urged the world football governing body FIFA to eject the United States from the 2026 World Cup, while America hammers Iran with missile strikes.
The U.S. is co-hosting the premier football tournament this summer along with Canada and Mexico, and the U.S.-Israeli strikes that decapitated Tehran’s leadership have thrown Iran’s participation into doubt.
Trump this week suggested it was not “appropriate” for the Iranian team to attend for their “own life and safety,” not long after FIFA President Gianni Infantino assured people that Trump had said it was “welcome to compete in the tournament.”
Read Also: Iran Pulls Out Of 2026 World Cup After Recent Attacks
“Certainly, no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup; the only country that could be excluded is one that merely carries the title of ‘host’ yet lacks the ability to provide security for the teams participating in this global event,” the association wrote in an Instagram story addressed to Infantino.
Even before the war began, Iranian football representatives didn’t attend last year’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. over a visa spat with the U.S. administration.
Iran qualified for the tournament in March 2025. If it attends the World Cup, Iran will face Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand in the group stage, in matches played in Los Angeles and Seattle.
Iran’s government has said the national football team will not participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US‑Israeli airstrikes and the outbreak of a broader armed conflict in the Middle East.
Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali told state television yesterday that “under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup” in the United States, Mexico and Canada, accusing the United States of assassinating Iran’s leader and creating unacceptable conditions for the team’s involvement.
He said the US and Israel had forced multiple wars on Iran, resulting in thousands of casualties, and that the national team could not be sent to compete in what Tehran described as an unsafe environment.
Read Also: Iran Won’t Relent Until US Pays – Security Chief Declares
Iran was the first team to qualify for the expanded 48‑nation tournament, but all of its Group G matches—including fixtures scheduled in Los Angeles and Seattle—are set to be played on US soil.
Despite Iran’s announcement, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he had discussed the situation with US President Donald Trump, who reiterated that the Iranian team is welcome to compete in the tournament.
Infantino described football as a unifying force and emphasised the World Cup’s importance amid global tensions, although Tehran’s stance suggests the political and security environment remains a barrier to participation.
Iran’s withdrawal leaves a potential vacancy in Group G.
FIFA has not yet confirmed how it will proceed, but replacement teams or sanctions are possible if Iran’s absence is formalised.
Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said Thursday that his country would not give up fighting until the United States came to regret the “grave miscalculation” of launching its war against the Islamic republic.
US President Donald “Trump says he is looking for a speedy victory. While starting a war is easy, it cannot be won with a few tweets. We will not relent until making you sorry for this grave miscalculation,” Larijani said on X.
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iranian supreme leader, says his country will continue to close the Strait of Hormuz to pressure Iran’s enemies.
The United States is sending more Marines and ships to the Middle East two weeks into the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, US media reported on Friday.
The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying the Japan-based USS Tripoli and its attached Marines are en route to the region, while The New York Times reported that some 2,500 Marines aboard as many as three ships were headed for the Middle East.
CNN said it was a Marine Expeditionary Unit — which typically includes some 2,500 Marines and sailors — that was being deployed.
The Journal said the request for the additional Marines was made by US Central Command, which is responsible for US troops in the Middle East, and approved by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
There are already Marines in the region supporting operations against Iran, the newspaper added.
Read Also: Israel Is ‘Crushing’ Iran, Hezbollah – Netanyahu Declares
The United States and Israel launched a massive air campaign against Iran on February 28, and Tehran has responded with waves of drones and missiles as well as attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which is used for a fifth of global crude trade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the joint US-Israeli campaign was “crushing” Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and called for Iranians to rise up and overthrow the Islamic republic.
Netanyahu spoke soon after the new Iranian ruler Mojtaba Khamenei’s first statement, in which he vowed to avenge the Iranians killed in the war so far.
“We are crushing Iran and Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said in a televised media briefing.
In wide-ranging comments on the war, Netanyahu said he was seeking to use the conflict to oust the clerical leadership in Tehran.
