Tehran, Iran – Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Doniamale confirmed that his country’s national team may not participate in the 2026 World Cup if sufficient guarantees are not provided for the safety of the team’s delegation during the tournament.
The United States is scheduled to host the next tournament in partnership with Mexico and Canada, with 48 teams participating, from June 11 to July 19.
Doniamalei told Iran’s Mehr News Agency: “If the security of our team is not guaranteed, the Iranian national team will not participate in the World Cup”.
The Iranian minister added: “The US government has imposed two wars on us in the past few months, and under these circumstances and what has happened recently, we do not see the possibility of the national team participating in the World Cup unless sufficient security guarantees are provided”.
The Iranian national football team is participating in Group G of the tournament, along with the national teams of New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.
Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian Football Federation, had hinted on more than one occasion at the possibility of his country’s national team withdrawing from the tournament, given the current political tensions. Meanwhile, Hedayat Mombeini, the secretary general of the Iranian Football Federation, emphasized that the United States could not prevent the Iranian national team from participating in the World Cup.
