Iran Football Federation Says Participation in 2026 World Cup in Doubt

JAKARTA - Iran's participation in the 2026 World Cup in the coming three months is in doubt amid the escalating Middle East conflict triggered by the United States (US), one of the hosts of the football tournament.

Iran are scheduled to play their three group stage matches in the US - two in Inglewood, California, then in Seattle - from June 15 to June 26, 2026. Cities in Canada and Mexico will also host some of the 104 matches.

The US and Israel have targeted Iran in coordinated attacks since Saturday, February 28, 2026, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior officials.

This triggered a response from Iran which directed missiles at US allies including Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, and Saudi Arabia, which FIFA has chosen to host the 2034 edition.

"For sure, after this attack, we cannot expect to look forward to the 2026 World Cup with hope," said the President of the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI), Mehdi Taj, who is also Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), reported by ESPN.

It is not clear whether the state-backed FFIRI can refuse to send its team to the 2026 World Cup, which begins on June 11, or whether the US government can effectively block the team.

Meanwhile, FIFA declined to comment since Saturday, February 28, 2026, when Secretary General Mattias Grafström said they would monitor developments around all issues around the world.

A senior White House official overseeing preparations for the 2026 World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, did not seem concerned by the conflict in a social media post.

"We will discuss the football match tomorrow. Tonight, we celebrate their opportunity to achieve freedom," Giuliani wrote about Iran on Saturday, February 28, 2026.

Iran is among the second-seeded teams in the 2026 World Cup draw, which will be held on December 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C., minutes after US President Donald Trump receives the inaugural FIFA Peace Award.

Although Taj and other FFIRI officials were denied visas to enter the US, the draw result was favorable for Iran, especially in the expanded format where most third-ranked teams advanced to the knockout stage.

Iran started against lowly ranked New Zealand, then played one of the weaker top seeds, Belgium, and finished the tournament against Egypt.

The 2026 World Cup regulations lay out the possibility of a team withdrawing, or being ejected, from the tournament although the legal language is very ambiguous.

In such a scenario, according to Article 6.7, "FIFA will decide the matter at its own discretion and take any action it deems necessary."

"FIFA may decide to replace the participating Member Association with another association," the regulations read.

The legal framework appears to give FIFA President Gianni Infantino broad authority to shape any decision related to Iran.

Just 18 months ago, the decision announced by Infantino to add Lionel Messi's team, Inter Miami, to the list of participants in the 2025 Club World Cup seemed to have no basis in the formal rules of the tournament.

If Iran withdraws from the 2026 World Cup - which is still very speculative - FFIRI will lose at least 10.5 million US dollars.

FIFA paid 9 million US dollars in prize money to each of the 16 federations whose teams failed to qualify from the group stage. Then, all 48 teams that qualified for the qualifiers received 1.5 million US dollars to cover the preparation costs.

FFIRI will also face disciplinary fines from FIFA - at least 250,000 Swiss francs for withdrawal up to three days before the tournament and at least 500,000 Swiss francs if the decision is made in the last month before the start of the tournament.

In addition, Iran risks being disqualified by FIFA from the 2030 World Cup qualifiers.

Iran qualified for the 2026 World Cup quickly in March 2025, earning one of the eight guaranteed places for the AFC.

If Iran withdraws, possible replacements from Asia are Iraq or the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Iraq and the UAE are effectively ranked ninth and 10th in Asian teams through various qualifying groups and advance to the two-leg playoff in November 2025.

Iraq won the aggregate 3-2 - eliminating the UAE - to advance to the inter-federation playoff in Mexico. On March 31, 2026, they are scheduled to play an elimination match against Bolivia or Suriname with a stake in the 2026 World Cup.

One possible element of uncertainty is the language of the 2026 World Cup tournament regulations.

FIFA wrote that they could decide to replace the team that withdrew with another association even though they did not specify that the replacement must come from the same continental confederation.