A spokesman for the Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) announced on Friday that it will not send a delegation to Washington, DC for the group stage draw for next year’s World Cup.
“We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken have nothing to do with sport and that members of the Iranian delegation will not take part in the World Cup draw,” FFIRI spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi told state television.
He said the move was in protest against the fact that several members of the Iranian delegation were not granted visas to enter the United States. According to the English website Tehran Times, FFIRI Chairman Mehdi Taj is among those who have been refused entry.
US President Donald Trump has imposed a general entry ban on Iranian citizens with limited exceptions. Iran and the United States have been at loggerheads for decades, with diplomatic ties severed in the 1980s.
Will Iranian fans be excluded?
As things stood, Iranian soccer fans would not be allowed to travel to the United States to support their team during the World Cup. The same applies to fans of Haiti, which has also qualified for the World Cup.
However, the travel ban has no impact on the national team players and coaches of these countries. Trump’s executive order creates exceptions for, among others, “any athlete or athletic team member, including coaches, individuals performing essential support roles, and immediate relatives, who are traveling to the World Cup, the Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State.”
Next summer’s World Cup will mark Iran’s fourth consecutive participation in the tournament and seventh overall. The country has never reached the World Cup knockout stage, but has faced the United States twice. Iran defeated the United States 2–1 in the group stage of the 1998 tournament in France. The United States got their revenge by defeating Iran 1–0 in Qatar in 2022.
The 2026 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, begins on June 11, with the final to be played near New York City on July 19.
Editing: Kalika Mehta