U.S. President Donald Trump said ‌on Thursday the Iranian men’s national soccer team was welcome to participate in the 2026 World Cup but that he believed it was not appropriate that they be there “for their own life ​and safety.”

“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to the World Cup, ​but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be ⁠there, for their own life and safety,” Trump said in a post on ​Truth Social.

Iran’s sports minister said on Wednesday, opens new tab that it was not possible for his nation’s ​athletes to participate after the U.S. launched airstrikes alongside Israel against Tehran. The attacks triggered a region-wide conflict that has shown no signs of abating.

The 48-team World Cup will be held in the U.S., ​Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, with Iran scheduled for ​matches in Los Angeles and Seattle.

An official withdrawal by Iran from the showpiece event, ‌which has ⁠not yet happened, would be a first in the modern era and would leave soccer’s global governing body FIFA with the urgent task of finding a replacement team.

Iran was the only nation missing from a FIFA planning summit for World ​Cup participants held last ​week in Atlanta.

⁠FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Late last year it awarded Trump — who has campaigned aggressively ​for the Nobel Peace Prize — its own inaugural peace prize .

Earlier this ​week, Australia granted ⁠humanitarian visas to five Iranian women soccer players after they sought asylum, fearing persecution on their return home for their refusal to sing the national anthem at an ⁠Asia Cup ​match.

Trump had urged Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony ​Albanese to grant asylum to members of the Iranian women’s team, saying the U.S. would if Australia ​did not.

-Reuters

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The statement from Minister of Sport Ahmad Donyamali on Wednesday that Iran could not take part in a World Cup being co-hosted by the United States offered the clearest indication yet of the potential for a first ​withdrawal from global soccer’s showpiece event in the modern era.

While that has not officially happened at this point, minds at soccer’s global governing body FIFA must ‌now address more urgently the prospect of having to replace the Iranians in the tournament kicking off in the U.S., Mexico and Canada in early June.

Donyamali said it would be impossible for Iran to take part after air attacks launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering a region-wide conflict that shows no sign of abating.

While it always seemed counter-intuitive that Iran would take part ​in a World Cup while at war with one of the co-hosts, FIFA were on Tuesday still clearly banking on Team Melli lining up for their first group ​game against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.

Only a few hours before Donyamali’s statement, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino trumpeted an assurance from Trump ⁠that Iran were “welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States”.

A withdrawal would be governed by Article Six of the World Cup regulations, which, while stipulating a series of financial ​penalties for such a move, also states that FIFA would be at liberty to call up any nation it chooses to fill the void.

“There’s no modern precedent for this and, according to ​FIFA’s own tournament regulations, they have full discretion to do whatever they want in the case of a team withdrawing,” James Kitching, FIFA’s former Director of Football Regulatory, told Reuters.

“That means, for example, a team that withdraws wouldn’t have to be replaced by a team from the same confederation, or even replaced at all. Whether either of those scenarios would be politically tenable is a different question.

“The tournament regulations also provide disciplinary sanctions ​for any federation whose team withdraws. However, if Iran withdrew for any reason related to this current conflict, I doubt FIFA would impose any sanctions given the circumstances.”

The Iranians qualified for ​a fourth successive World Cup by topping Group A in the third round of Asian qualifying last year, and a replacement from the world’s most populous continent would make most sense, even if that is ‌not as ⁠straightforward as it may seem.

TRAVEL FREEZE COMPLICATES IRAQI PREPARATIONS

Iraq are due to participate in the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico this month for a spot at the finals, while the United Arab Emirates, which lost to the Iraqis in an eliminator in November, have also been mentioned as a potential candidate.

The travel freeze in the Middle East caused by the conflict is impacting Iraq’s ability to get to Mexico and prepare for their match against either Bolivia or Suriname on March 31.

Iraq coach Graham Arnold has proposed that FIFA postpone that fixture until closer to the finals, saying that ​would be fair to the Iraqis and ​allow the Iran situation to play out ⁠further.

“Let Bolivia play Suriname this month and then a week before the World Cup, we play the winner in the US – the winner of that game stays on, and the loser goes home,” Arnold told the Australian Associated Press on Monday.

“In my opinion, it also gives FIFA more ​time to decide what Iran is going to do. If Iran withdraws, we go into the World Cup, and it gives the ​UAE, who we beat in ⁠qualifying, the chance to prepare for either Bolivia or Suriname.”

FIFA has yet to comment on Donyamali’s statement while a source at the Asian Football Confederation said it “is closely monitoring the situation and remains in contact with FIFA” over the potential replacement of Iran.

“Matters relating to the World Cup fall under FIFA’s remit,” the source said. “At this stage, it would be premature to speculate further.”

World Cup places are ⁠much coveted by ​the confederations, however, and it is likely that the AFC would lobby hard for the replacement to come from ​Asia.

With Europe’s final participants in the World Cup also decided at the end of March, Kitching believes FIFA will not make any firm decisions until early April.

“I would expect a decision is not going to be made until after ​the final playoffs are finished, and for FIFA to take a pragmatic and consultative approach to the situation,” he said.

-Reuters

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Dozens of U.S. lawmakers have called on FIFA to lower the cost of tickets for the 2026 World Cup, saying in a letter sent to the global soccer governing body this week that the use of dynamic pricing has ​turned the sporting event into an exclusionary enterprise at the expense of fans.

The letter, which was orchestrated ‌by Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove and signed by another 68 Members of Congress, was addressed to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and said American fans and international visitors for the June 11-July 19 World Cup should have access to affordable tickets.

“The extreme high demand for World Cup tickets should ​not be a green light for price gouging at the expense of the people who make the World ​Cup the most-watched sporting event in the world,” the group said in the letter that was ⁠shared on Wednesday.

FIFA did not immediately respond when asked to comment on the letter that was dated March 10 and ​addressed to Infantino.

Ticket prices for the World Cup being held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico have become as much ​a headline as the matches themselves, especially when comparing their face value to the ticket pricing summary that was originally listed in the bid book by the three host nations.

FIFA is using dynamic pricing for the first time at this year’s World Cup, which is a system ​that allows for the cost of tickets to fluctuate based on a variety of factors including real-time demand, inventory and ​the popularity of an event. Tickets on FIFA’s official resale platform have skyrocketed.

“This widely-criticised decision to abandon the traditional static pricing model prioritises ‌revenue maximisation ⁠over accessibility for fans and host community residents,” the letter said.

“Despite host cities’ cooperation in bringing the vision of the largest, most global World Cup in history to fruition, the consequences of dynamic pricing will make the 2026 FWC the most financially exclusionary and inaccessible to date.”

The lawmakers want FIFA to “review and reconsider” the tournament policies that they say have created insurmountable ​challenges to fans and host ​cities, some of which ⁠they argue have been forced to scale back or privatise fan festivals.

Due to backlash over exorbitant prices, FIFA introduced a small number of $60 tickets that are tucked high in the top ​corners of stadiums and are very limited in number compared to the other categories.

In their ​letter, the lawmakers ⁠asked if FIFA will redistributed unallocated bands of tickets at more affordable prices, preventing price inflation as teams advance, reconsidering dynamic pricing in favour of a static model for future tournaments, and giving host cities more flexibility to fund and host fan festivals ⁠for those ​unable to attend matches.

“We urge FIFA to take immediate corrective action to ​address the harms caused by its use of dynamic pricing, which has transformed the world’s largest sporting event into an exclusionary, profit-driven enterprise at the ​direct expense of fans, host communities, and public taxpayers,” the letter said.

-Reuters

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