Summary of this article
Iran's Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali says team Melli to backout of FIFA World Cup 2026
Donyamali condemns US-Israel's brutal strikes on Iran
Gianni Infantino recently said US President Donald Trump open to welcoming Iran this summer
In a latest development, it has been confirmed that Iran will not be participating at the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 this summer. The country's sports and youth Minister stated that team Melli will not travel to the Americas after the United States killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint operation with Israel.
Initially Iran were expected to participate in the World Cup but in his latest addressal via state television, Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali raised concerns on the national team's safety on US soil and that is a clear indication itself.
Though FIFA said Tuesday night that it anticipates Iran’s national team will be allowed to come to the United States. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said “I really don’t care” if Iran takes part in the 48-nation tournament.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he met with Trump on Tuesday night “to discuss the status of preparations” for the tournament and received assurances that Iran would be permitted to come to the U.S.
Infantino later confirmed that Donald Trump is open to welcoming the Iranian team for the FIFA World Cup through a social media post.
"This evening, I met with the President of the 🇺🇸 United States, Donald J. Trump to discuss the status of preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and the growing excitement as we are set to kick off in just 93 days." - Infantino wrote.
"We also spoke about the current situation in Iran, and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026. During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States."
"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." - Gianni Infantino concluded.
However, in a latest interview, Ahmad Donyamali condemned the USA for initiating two wars in the space of 12 months and killing countless Iranians in the process and that's why Iran's participation is out of scope.
"Due to the wicked acts they have done against Iran — they have imposed two wars on us over just eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people — definitely it’s not possible for us to take part in the World Cup." - Ahmad Donyamali said.
Iran is scheduled to play all of their Group stage matches in the US.
Their first two matches on June 15 and 21 against New Zealand and Belgium takes place in Inglewood, California, and their Group stages will conclude against Egypt (June 26) in Seattle.
The U.S. is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
