Tehran, Iran : A statement by Ahmad Donyamali that Iran could withdraw from the FIFA World Cup 2026 has left world soccer’s governing body FIFA considering how it might respond to the unprecedented situation.
The tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, is due to begin in early June. Donyamali said on Wednesday that Iran could not participate after U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Feb. 28 killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, triggering a wider regional conflict.
While Iran has not officially withdrawn, FIFA must now confront the possibility of replacing the team in the 48-nation tournament.
Just hours before Donyamali’s comments, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he had received assurances from U.S. President Donald Trump that Iran would be welcome to compete in the United States.
Under Article Six of World Cup regulations, a withdrawing team could face financial penalties but FIFA has the authority to decide how to fill the vacant place.
“There’s no modern precedent for this and, according to FIFA’s own tournament regulations, they have full discretion to do whatever they want in the case of a team withdrawing,” said James Kitching.
“That means, for example, a team that withdraws wouldn’t have to be replaced by a team from the same confederation, or even replaced at all. Whether either of those scenarios would be politically tenable is a different question.”
He added that sanctions against Iran were unlikely if a withdrawal was directly linked to the ongoing conflict.
Iran qualified for a fourth consecutive World Cup after topping their Asian qualifying group last year, and a replacement from Asian Football Confederation competition could be considered.
One possible candidate is Iraq national football team, who are due to play an intercontinental playoff in Mexico later this month for a place at the finals. The United Arab Emirates national football team, eliminated by Iraq in a qualifying playoff in November, has also been mentioned as a potential option.
However, travel disruptions in the Middle East caused by the conflict have complicated Iraq’s preparations for their playoff match against either Bolivia national football team or Suriname national football team on March 31.
Iraq coach Graham Arnold has proposed that FIFA postpone the fixture until closer to the finals, arguing the delay would be fair to his team and allow more time for the Iran situation to develop.
