TEHRAN: Iran’s participation in next week’s 2026 FIFA World Cup draw has been thrown into doubt after the country announced its intention to boycott the event due to visa restrictions imposed on its delegation.
According to the Tehran Times, the United States issued visas to only four members of Iran’s football delegation while rejecting requests for three additional visas, including one for Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) President Mehdi Taj.
“We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken are unrelated to sport and that the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw,” FFIRI spokesman Mehdi Alavi said on Friday. He added that the federation has been in touch with FIFA in hopes of resolving the issue.
The World Cup draw is scheduled for December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where teams will be allocated into 12 groups of four for the expanded 48-team tournament.
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, with matches set to take place across 16 venues, including three in Mexico and two in Canada. The top two teams from each group, along with the eight best third-place sides, will progress to the knockout stage.
