Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Thursday, March 12, 2026 9:17 p.m. / Updated Thursday, March 12, 2026 9:35 p.m.
FIFA faces the prospect of finding a new World Cup entrant after Iran has announced its intention to boycott the tournament because of the conflict with the US. The decision follows the country's official statement: “We cannot participate in the World Cup under any circumstances.”
The North American World Cup will be predominantly held in the United States, and the country's political decisions have sparked controversy in the soccer world. The conflict led to the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and devastated parts of the capital Tehran.
Who could replace Iran at the World Cup? What does the FIFA regulation say?
According to FIFA regulations, the substitute team will be “a nominated alternative, often the second-placed team from that qualifying play-off or the highest-placed non-qualifying team from that confederation.“
A possible solution would be to directly include a United Arab Emirateswho finished second to Iran in the qualifiers. However, they lost to Iraq in the Asian confederation match, which decided the participant in the intercontinental play-off scheduled in a few weeks.
Iraq will play the winner of Bolivia and Suriname for a place at the World Cup, complicating the situation. There is talk of FIFA giving Iraq an automatic place in the tournament as Iran's replacement and the United Arab Emirates taking part in the intercontinental play-off!
A less likely scenario would be a group with just three teams, leaving Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand to play each other. The tournament's expanded format sees the best third-placed teams advance to the knockout stages, but a three-team pool complicates that scenario.
Donald Trump warned Iran: “It's not fair to be at the World Cup”
“Iran's national football team is welcome at the World Cup, but I don't think it's right for them to be there, for their lives and safety.” US President Donald Trump said in a post.
Iran confirms boycott of World Cup
Iran's Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali has officially outlined the country's plans to sit out the tournament, meaning FIFA must find a new team to complete the group alongside Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. Iran qualified as winners of their group in the Asian qualifiers, but world football management have several options for replacements, according to sportal.bg.
Donyamali criticized the US administration and explained the reasons for the boycott:
“Considering that this corrupt regime [SUA] killed our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup. In the context of malicious actions against Iran, two wars were imposed on us within eight or nine months and several thousand of our people were killed. Our children are not safe and essentially such conditions for participation do not exist.”
Assurances from the FIFA President
FIFA President Gianni Infantino met with US President Donald Trump and said he had received assurances that Iran was welcome at the tournament despite the conflict in the Middle East:
“During the talks, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is of course welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States“, said Infantino.
