Trump calls on FIFA to reconsider Iran's participation in the 2026 World Cup

President Donald Trump said publicly that Iran's national football team should not participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, citing safety concerns amid the ongoing US-Israel military campaign against Iran. Trump said while the Iranian team is welcome to attend, he does not believe it is appropriate for them to be present, in his words, 'for their own life and safety.' The 2026 World Cup is scheduled to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with the tournament set to begin in June 2026.

Trump's comments put FIFA in a position it has been reluctant to enter throughout its history: responding to a host country's government urging the exclusion of a qualified team. Iran qualified for the 2026 World Cup by finishing second in the Asian Football Confederation's third-round qualifying group. Their presence in the tournament is not a matter of invitation; they earned their spot through a standard two-year competitive process, and removing them would require a formal decision by FIFA's governing bodies.

What Trump said and how FIFA has historically responded to political pressure

Trump's framing of the comment as a safety concern rather than a political ban is notable. Saying the Iranian team should stay away for their own protection positions the statement as welfare-oriented rather than punitive, but the practical effect of acting on that suggestion would be the same: Iran would not play in a tournament they qualified for. FIFA's statutes explicitly prohibit government interference in football administration, and the organization has suspended national associations for exactly this kind of pressure in the past.

In 2023, FIFA suspended the Football Federation of Sierra Leone after government officials removed its president and replaced the board. In 2022, FIFA and UEFA jointly suspended Russian football following the invasion of Ukraine, but that decision came from FIFA itself, not from a host nation's head of state making public statements. The legal and procedural distinction matters because it determines who has the authority to act and under what rules. A US president cannot instruct FIFA to exclude a team. FIFA's response to Trump's comments, if it addresses them directly, will be watched carefully by football associations in every country.

Iran's qualification and what exclusion would require

Iran qualified for the 2026 World Cup through the Asian Football Confederation's qualification pathway. The AFC's third-round consisted of three groups of six teams each, with the top two from each group qualifying directly. Iran finished second in their group, behind South Korea, across eight matches played between 2024 and 2025. Their qualification is documented, processed, and accepted by FIFA. Excluding Iran after qualification would require FIFA to invoke specific articles of its statutes related to security, political interference, or force majeure, none of which straightforwardly apply to a situation where a qualified team's home country is in conflict with the host nation.

Russia's exclusion in 2022 set a precedent, but it was built on specific reasoning: UEFA and FIFA determined that the security and integrity of competition could not be guaranteed for Russian clubs and the national team in an environment where the conflict had already produced travel restrictions, financial sanctions, and widespread condemnation from member associations. The Iran situation differs in that the conflict is between Iran and the United States rather than a broad international response. Most FIFA member nations have not sanctioned Iran in the way European nations sanctioned Russia.

The host agreement and what the United States committed to

When the United States, Canada, and Mexico were awarded the 2026 World Cup at the FIFA Congress in Moscow in June 2018, the host countries signed agreements committing to provide visa access and security guarantees for all participating teams, officials, media, and fans. The US government's commitment to grant visas to players and officials from all qualified nations is part of that agreement. Denying visa access to the Iranian team without FIFA's formal exclusion of Iran would put the United States in breach of its hosting agreement and could expose the country to sanctions from FIFA, including the removal of hosting rights.

Iran has appeared in the FIFA World Cup six times: 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, and 2022. Their 2022 World Cup campaign in Qatar drew significant global attention because of the political protests happening inside Iran at the time, with several Iranian players declining to sing the national anthem before matches. The team's relationship with its own government is complicated, which is part of what made Trump's safety framing unusual: the Iranian players competing in the World Cup would not necessarily be seen as government representatives by a significant portion of Iran's own population.

What FIFA has said and what happens next

FIFA has not responded to Trump's comments with a formal statement as of the time of this writing. The organization is scheduled to hold its next full Council meeting in April 2026, which would be the earliest formal venue for addressing any administrative question about the 2026 tournament. The tournament's group draw, where Iran would be placed into their group, is a procedural step that FIFA would have to interrupt or reverse if it intended to act on any exclusion before the tournament begins.

Iran is currently in Pot 4 of FIFA's world rankings distribution for the 2026 World Cup draw, reflecting their current FIFA ranking of 22nd in the world as of the February 2026 release. The group stage draw for the 2026 World Cup is scheduled for late April 2026 in New York. If FIFA proceeds with the draw without excluding Iran, it will be a signal that the organization is not acting on the Trump administration's position. A formal FIFA response addressing the host nation's public pressure is expected before that date.