Iran cannot participate in the 2026 World Cup after co-host the US launched airstrikes against the country alongside Israel, killing its leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday.
The US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran nearly two weeks ago, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, leading to a region-wide conflict in the Gulf.
“Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” the minister told state TV.
The World Cup will be held in the US, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
“Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist,” Donyamali said.
“Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence.”
In the draw last December, the Iranians were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. All three of their Group G matches were scheduled to take place in the US, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
Iran was the only nation missing from a Fifa planning summit for World Cup participants held last week in Atlanta, deepening questions over whether the country’s soccer team will compete on US soil this summer amid an escalating regional war.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said he met US President Donald Trump, who told him he welcomed Iran’s participation in the World Cup.
Trump told Politico earlier he is not concerned about Iran’s participation, as they are a “very badly defeated country”.
“We also spoke about the current situation in Iran and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the World Cup 2026,” Infantino said in a post on his official social media account.
“During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the US.
“We all need an event like the World Cup to bring people together now more than ever, and I sincerely thank the president of the US for his support, as it shows again that football unites the world.”
Iran secured a trip to a fourth successive World Cup by topping Group A in the third round of Asian qualifying last year, but Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said the viciousness of the attacks by US and Israeli forces did not augur well for the World Cup.
If the US and Iran finish second in their respective groups, the two countries could meet in a July 3 elimination match in Dallas.
Reuters has contacted Fifa for comment.
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