World Cup 2026 will start in less than two months, and Iran is expected to be one of the participating countries: Gianni Infantino has insisted that they will come, despite the war with United States and Israel continuing, and Iranian officials saying that chances of them traveling to the US to play World Cup are very low, doubting that they can guarantee their safety.
In the meantime, Italy got a shocking elimination from the qualifying stages for the third time in a row. What if both events could be related? A special envoy from Italian government and close friend of Trump, Paolo Zampolli, was sent to repair ties between Trump and Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, after their disagreements on the feud between Trump and Pope Leo XIV due to the war in Iran.
According to The Financial Times (via The Guardian), one of the things that they talked about was an unprecedented suggestion: that Italy should take Iran's place in the World Cup.
"I confirm I have suggested to Trump and Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup. I'm an Italian native and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion", the US special envoy Paolo Zampolli said.
But, is pedigree enough justification to bypass countless rules and arbitrarily exchange Iran from Italy? In any case, if Iran doesn't go, that spot should be filled by a team from the same confederation, Asia, as the World Cup has a predetermined distribution of spots given to all FIFA confederations in all continents (CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, AFC, OFC). And regardless, Trump does not have the power to do that, and Infantino, no matter how well he gets along with Trump, wouldn't change all rules just to please him... we think, at least.