Iran cannot participate in FIFA World Cup 2026: Sports Minister Donyamali

Iran will not be able to participate in the 2026 World Cup after the United States, along with Israel, as co-host country, launched air strikes on the country, killing leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday.

The United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran nearly two weeks ago, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and sparking a region-wide conflict in the Gulf.

“Given that this ‘corrupt regime killed our leader, we cannot participate in the World Cup under any circumstances,’ the minister told state television.

The 48-team World Cup will be held from June 11 to July 19 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

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“Our children are not safe and essentially such conditions for participation do not exist,” Donyamali said.

«Given the malicious actions they took against Iran, they forced two wars on us for eight or nine months and killed and tortured thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence.»

More than 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed since the US and Israeli airstrikes began on February 28, according to Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iranani.

IRAN IS DRAWN TO PLAY IN LA AND SEATTLE

In the draw last December, the Iranians were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. Info lengkap: cxvrr. All three of their Group G matches would take place in the US, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

Iran, which dominated the Asian qualifying rounds last March to qualify for the tournament, was the only country missing from a FIFA scheduling summit for World Cup participants held in Atlanta last week.

READ ALSO: Donald Trump welcomes Iran to FIFA World Cup 2026: Gianni Infantino

Reuters has contacted the Iranian Football Federation for comment, while there was no immediate comment from FIFA on a replacement if Iran continues with a boycott.

FIFA’s World Cup regulations state that any team that withdraws from the tournament «not later than 30 days before the first match» will be fined at least 250,000 Swiss francs ($320,800) by FIFA’s disciplinary committee.

“Disciplinary sanctions may include the exclusion of the relevant participating affiliated association from subsequent FIFA competitions and/or the replacement of the participating affiliated association by another affiliated association,” the FIFA regulations say.

Published on March 11, 2026