Under missile attack from USA and Israel, and retaliating subsequently, sport would be the last thing on Iran’s mind. But the nature of the hostilities have also cast a shadow on their biggest sporting occasion in the foreseeable future, the FIFA World Cup due to be held over the summer in USA, Canada and Mexico. Iran qualified for their fourth straight World Cup last year same time in March 2025 and were drawn in December’s pot-picks in Washington, allocated all their three pool matches on US soil. Iran is due to start their first engagement against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles and then play Belgium on June 21. They then travel to Seattle and play Egypt on June 26. However, Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj told Spanish publication Marca, that Iran are unlikely to play but no official withdrawal has taken place. He told Marca on Saturday, “With what happened today and with that attack by the United States, it is unlikely that we can look forward to the World Cup, but the sports chiefs are the ones who must decide on that,” Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini was reported to have been killed in the strikes on Saturday morning, as declared by US leader Donald Trump. The head of Iranian soccer also told Marca that the Iranian league had been suspended until further notice. Marca noted this affected three Spaniards who played in the first division: former Real Madrid player Antonio Adan; Spanish-Moroccan Munir (both in Esteghlal, a top team in the country’s league); and former Valladolid player Ivan Sanchez, who plays for Sepahan, also a very popular club. “The former is already in Madrid and the other two are currently trying to leave Iranian territory by road,” Marca reported. FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafstrom spoke to the media on Saturday at the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meet in Wales, and said FIFA was monitoring the situation.Story continues below this ad “I read the news (about Iran) this morning the same way you did,” Grafstrom said. “We had a meeting today and it is premature to comment in detail, but we will monitor developments around all issues around the world. We had the finals draw in Washington in which all teams participated, and our focus is on a safe World Cup with all the teams participating. We will continue to communicate as we always do with three [host] governments as we always do in any case. Everybody will be safe,” he told the media.
Will Iran be at the FIFA World Cup?
