FIFA World Cup 2026 – US says it has no objection to Iran playing, but people with ties to IRGC are not welcome

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Washington has no objection to Iranian players taking part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but he added that the players should not bring people with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Nothing from the U.S. has told them they can’t come,” Rubio told reporters. President Donald Trump also said his administration “wouldn’t want to influence the athletes” in comments he made at the White House.

The 2026 World Cup starts on June 11 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Paolo Zampolli, a Trump envoy who has no official connection to the World Cup, had previously suggested that Italy should replace Iran at the tournament.

«The problem with Iran wouldn’t be their athletes. It would be some other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We might not be able to let them in, but not the athletes themselves,» Rubio said.

“They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists to our country and pose as journalists and sports trainers,” Rubio added. Washington has labeled the IRGC a “foreign terrorist organization.”

Currently, there is no suggestion that Iran will withdraw or be excluded from the tournament that Italy missed. After the start of the war against Iran, Iran requested FIFA to move the team’s three group matches from the US to Mexico, which was rejected.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Iran responded with its own attacks on Israel and Gulf states with American bases. US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands of people and displaced millions. A fragile ceasefire in the war against Iran began more than two weeks ago.

Published on April 24, 2026