The world Football governing body FIFA denied Iran’s request to move their World Cup 2026 games to be relocated from the United States to Mexico.
FIFA appeared to have declined Iran’s requests, saying
In a statement on Tuesday the FIFA has clearly said that all the competing nations must look forward in line with the official match schedule.
Earlier, Iran’s football federation had requested FIFA to change their World Cup match games venue from the US to Mexico as US-Israeli and Iran are at war.
According to the match scheduled, Iran is to face New Zealand on 16 June and Belgium on 21 June both in Los Angeles and Egypt in Seattle on 27 June.
The US is co-hosting the World Cup, which takes place between 11 June and 19 July, with Canada and Mexico.
But last week US President Donald Trump said: “The Iran national soccer team is welcome to the World Cup.” He also warned Iran about their safety too.
Thus, the Iranian Football Federation has said “When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America.”
With this, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that the Iranian team will not feature in the tournament. However, according to FIFA rules, if Iran refused to play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they could face fines, lose prize money, and potentially be banned from future competitions
In the past, Yugoslavia and Myanmar had faced similar situations.
