Iran won't participate in FIFA World Cup: Sports minister
Iran's Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Ahmad Donyamali has said that the country’s national football team will not participate in the forthcoming US-hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup due to the ongoing US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic.
"Given the status quo and the US-Israeli war, Iran's national soccer squad does not deem the conditions as appropriate for participation in the World Cup," Donyamali said on Wednesday.
For his part, the President of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mehdi Taj pointed to the political and media hype surrounding the participation of Iran’s women’s national football team in the AFC Women’s Asia Cup.
During their stay in Australia, the female Iranian athletes faced unprecedented intimidation and coersion orchestrated by the Australian government, with direct support from the United States.
Australian police repeatedly approached the players, urging them to seek asylum. The situation worsened to the point where US President Donald Trump declared that if Australia did not grant them residency, the US would.
"If the outlook for the World Cup is like this, which sensible country would send its national team to such a place?" Taj said.
He added that the women's team had given a military salute out of affection for their country after the matches, and should not face retaliation.
He warned that similar situation could occur for other Iranian teams as well.
Iran's national team has been drawn in Group G of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where it was going to face Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand.
The regimes in Washington and Tel Aviv launched their aggression on February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. More than 1,300 Iranians have been killed in subsequent air raids which has targeted civilian structures including, schools, hospitals, and sports facilities.
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