Trump Threatens Iran's Participation, Will FIFA Dare to Cancel the US as Host of the 2026 World Cup?

United States President Donald Trump does not guarantee the safety of the Iranian national football team if they continue to participate in the 2026 World Cup. Referring to Trump's statement, FIFA—the highest football authority in the world—should reconsider holding this year's football festival in the "Land of Uncle Sam." Indonesia experienced this in 2023.

"The Iranian soccer team is welcome at the World Cup, but I really don't believe they are there, for their lives and safety," Trump said in a statement on his personal account, Truth Social, Thursday (March 12, 2026) local time or Friday (March 13, 2026) midnight WIB.

Trump's statement reinforces the earlier remarks made by his friend, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, on Thursday. Trump held a special meeting with Infantino to focus on discussing Iran's fate in the 2026 World Cup.

"President Trump reiterated that Iran is, of course, welcome to compete in tournaments in the United States," Infantino said.

However, Infantino's statement contradicts the lack of effort from FIFA to provide equality to Iran, similar to the 41 other teams that have already secured their places in the tournament this summer.

There was no encouragement from FIFA to the US Government to approve the visa applications of six Iranian delegates, including the President of the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) Mehdi Taj, to attend the draw ceremony for the qualifying round in December 2025, in Washington DC.

FIFA also did not facilitate the FFIRI delegation to attend the pre-tournament meeting in Atlanta, USA, last week. In fact, the meeting was an opportunity for FIFA to announce several policies and regulations for the 2026 World Cup, both related to technical and non-technical aspects of the matches.

In fact, referring to the preparations, Iran has maximized everything. They have decided to use the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, as the team's headquarters during the tournament.

The location of the headquarters was determined by considering two match venues for Iran in three Group G duels. The "Melli" team will face New Zealand (June 15) and Belgium (June 21) at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California. Subsequently, the final group stage match against Egypt will be held at Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington.

Regardless of the high tensions between the United States and Iran due to the war since February 28, 2026, Iran still has the right to participate. Moreover, the Melli team, as Iran is known, is one of the two teams alongside Japan that qualified the earliest from the qualifying round. They secured their place in the World Cup since March 2025.

Iran's fate at the 2026 World Cup rests entirely in the hands of the FIFA Council led by Infantino.

The Melli team has responded to Trump's statement through several of their social media channels. According to Iran, FIFA holds full authority over the World Cup.

"The World Cup is a historic and international tournament organized by FIFA, not the preserve of any individual nation. The Iranian national team, with its strength and numerous victories achieved by its brave sons, is one of the first to qualify for this major tournament," the Iranian national team said in a statement, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Iran, through Minister of Sports Ahmad Donyamali, has indeed sent signals to withdraw from the 2026 World Cup and cancel their eighth participation in the largest football tournament.

However, Iran's fate in the 2026 World Cup is entirely in the hands of the FIFA Council led by Infantino. The FIFA Council consists of 37 members, including one president, eight vice presidents, and 28 ordinary members.

Without an official decision from FIFA, no country, including the trio of host nations for the 2026 edition— the United States, Canada, and Mexico—should have the authority to determine the teams participating in the tournament. Moreover, the host nations only hold the status of tournament organizers. The authority over the World Cup entirely rests with FIFA.

Based on that, Trump's statement threatening Iran's participation in the 2026 World Cup could be the beginning of FIFA's consideration to issue a warning. The reason is that Trump is on the verge of violating two FIFA regulations.

First, Iran's right to compete in the 2026 World Cup is protected under Article 3.2.5 of the General Requirements for the 2026 World Cup regarding Safety and Security. This regulation includes a clause stating that every individual—from team members to supporters—is guaranteed safety throughout all tournament locations, including stadiums, training fields, media centers, and entry points to the country/city.

"The government must take full responsibility for the security and safety of the competition and the agenda related to the competition," the regulation reads.

Secondly, FIFA has also mandated the three participating country governments and 16 host city governments to sign the Host Agreement. One of the provisions in this agreement includes Article 8.9.1 concerning Safety and Security.

"With all due respect, the host city is fully responsible for, among other things, the security, safety, and protection of all individuals and entities present or involved in the competition across all public spaces," the regulation states.

Three years ago, those two regulations were the basis for FIFA to remove Indonesia as the host of the 2023 U-20 World Cup. Indonesia's place was taken by Argentina. The reason was Indonesia's reluctance to accept Israel's presence at the tournament.

The 2023 U-20 World Cup is the first moment in which FIFA has revoked a country's status as the host of an official tournament due to the refusal to accept the presence of one of the participating teams.

In the 1986 World Cup, Mexico was entrusted as the host after Colombia withdrew. However, at that time, Colombia submitted a cancellation of the hosting status due to being hindered by a domestic political-economic crisis.

Therefore, the US is obligated to provide security for Iran should they continue to participate in the 2026 World Cup. If not, this will become a test of FIFA's and Infantino's dignity in the eyes of the global football community.

Allowing Iran to miss out on a World Cup berth due to Trump's pressure would certainly tarnish FIFA's reputation, which consistently champions fair play. Iran earned its place at the 2026 World Cup through legitimate means on the pitch. FIFA should have guaranteed that effort.

However, the most likely policy to emerge—referring to the close relationship between Infantino and Trump—would be FIFA sacrificing Iran in order to maintain good relations with the United States.

It is important to note that the original World Cup trophy is currently displayed in Trump's private office in the White House. For the first time, FIFA has placed their most prestigious trophy in the private room of a head of state.

Not only the World Cup trophy, Trump also possesses the original trophy of the Club World Cup, which was supposed to be taken home by Chelsea as the champion of the inaugural edition in the summer of 2025, to London, England.

In addition to political relations, the United States is also very difficult to exclude from hosting due to the economic impact of the 2026 World Cup being controlled by them. Out of the 16 host cities, 11 of them are located in the United States.

With the tournament kickoff less than three months away, FIFA does not want to gamble with the host status of the United States, which could thwart their ambitions to earn billions of dollars.

So, Iran's fate rests entirely in FIFA's hands. (REUTERS/AFP)