Why is Iran national football team boycotting the FIFA World Cup 2026 despite the “welcome” from US president and Gianni Infantino

Uncertainty had emerged over whether the Iran national football team would take part in the FIFA World Cup 2026 after a major political crisis in the Middle East. Iran’s sports minister has now announced that the country will not be able to participate in the tournament. His remarks came after the reported killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel. The World Cup is scheduled to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026. However, the ongoing conflict has raised doubts about Iran’s presence in the tournament. Officials in Tehran say the security situation and political tensions make participation difficult.Iran’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, said the country may refuse to play in the tournament following the death of the country’s supreme leader. Speaking to state television, he said that since the US government had assassinated their leader, Iran could not take part in the World Cup under any circumstances. He also stated that the safety of Iranian citizens could not be guaranteed and that the conditions required for the team to compete simply do not exist.The minister also argued that the United States had taken hostile actions against Iran. He said these actions had led to multiple conflicts in recent months and had caused the deaths of thousands of Iranian people. Because of this situation, he said Iran could not consider participating in an event hosted by the United States.His comments came shortly after Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, revealed that former US president Donald Trump had said Iran would still be welcome to compete in the tournament.Infantino explained that during a meeting about World Cup preparations, the ongoing situation involving Iran was also discussed. According to him, Trump repeated that the Iranian national team would be allowed to play in the tournament hosted in the United States.Iran has already qualified for the expanded 48-team competition. The team is scheduled to play group-stage matches against New Zealand national football team and Belgium national football team in Inglewood, California, and against the Egypt national football team in Seattle.A similar situation occurred in 2023 when Indonesia refused to host the Israel national football team during the FIFA U‑20 World Cup. FIFA removed Indonesia as host shortly before the tournament began and moved the event to Argentina.