Iran’s Sports Minister announced on Wednesday that the country will not participate in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, after the United States jointly with Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, killing its leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Airstrikes on Iran by the US and Israel two weeks ago killed the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, sparking a region-wide conflict in the Gulf.
The 48-team World Cup will be held from June 11 to July 19 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
In the draw last December, the Iranians were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. 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.
Who will replace Iran at the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Iran’s neighbor and arch-rival Iraq is likely to benefit from Iran’s withdrawal from the World Cup. As it stands, Iraq will compete in the inter-confederation play-off later this month.
According to FIFA qualifying rules, if Iran withdraws from the tournament, the second-best ranked team from West Asia will take its place in the World Cup.
While Qatar is ranked just below Iran, the 2022 World Cup host has already punched its ticket to the World Cup finals, the second best ranked team is Iran with 58.
Iraq’s place in the inter-confederation play-offs will then be given to the United Arab Emirates, who lost the AFC fifth round qualifiers to the former.
Published on March 11, 2026
