Donald Trump has said he doesn’t care if Iran participates in this summer’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The United States and Israel began attacking targets in the country on Saturday, and the conflict in the Middle East has since spread to the entire region.
US President Trump told Politico: “I don’t really care. I think Iran is a very defeated country. They are exhausted.” Iran was the only nation absent from a FIFA planning summit for World Cup participants held this week in Atlanta, deepening questions about whether the country’s team will compete on American soil this summer amid an escalating regional war.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said the cruelty of the attacks by US and Israeli forces did not bode well for the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19. Iran secured a trip to a fourth consecutive World Cup by topping Group A in the third round of Asian qualifying last year.
The Iranians were in Group G with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. Their games are scheduled to take place in the United States, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle. If both the United States and Iran finish second in their respective groups, the two countries could meet in a knockout match on July 3 in Dallas.
Iran is one of two competing nations subject to Trump’s more restrictive travel ban, enacted by executive order last June, according to Politico. While the ban excludes World Cup teams and support staff, decisions on visa exceptions for others – including government figures or executives of team-sponsoring companies – are left to the State Department on a case-by-case basis.
Andrew Giuliani, director of the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force, said in a January interview in Colorado Springs that security concerns would shape the administration’s approach to exceptions to travel bans.
In a statement to Politico on Tuesday, Giuliani added: “President Trump’s decisive action to eliminate the Ayatollah, the most notorious state sponsor of terrorism in my lifetime, eliminates a major destabilizing threat and will help protect people around the world, including Americans and the millions planning to attend the 2026 World Cup in the United States.”
In the modern era, no qualified team has not participated in the World Cup finals. Iran would almost certainly be replaced if they withdraw from the tournament.
