Donald Trump has been asked by Politico if Iran will participate in World Cup 2026 next summer. "I really don't care", was his answer. "I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They're running on fumes."
Iran is placed in Group G, and is scheduled to play Group Stage matches against Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand, all of them on US soil, in Seattle and Inglewood, California, starting on June 15.
After five days of airstrikes, tension in the Middle East increases, and Iran, which qualified for FIFA World Cup for its sixth time in history, fourth time in a row since 2014, was the only country qualified for World Cup not to attend a three-day event in Atlanta this week with meetings about facilities, medicine, match organisation or commercial matters.
Mehdi Taj, the Iranian football federation President, told Iranian sports outlet Varzesh3 following the strikes that "what is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope". Last weekend, FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafstrom said on Saturday that "our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating".
While the US will allow the entrance to the team and team members, fans and even government officials may be denied entrance in the country, following the stricter travel bans issued by Trump last June.