President Donald Trump was blunt when discussing the possibility of Iran missing the 2026 World Cup, saying he doesn’t ‘really care’ whether the Middle East country travels to the United States for the tournament.
Iran’s participation has been thrown into doubt following the events of the past few days, with the United States and Israel launching attacks on Iran starting on Saturday, Feb. 28.
The military campaign killed the nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dozens of top officials. Iran has responded with attacks on several U.S. military facilities around the Middle East.
Iran is currently scheduled to play New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
With Iran’s participation in serious doubt just three months from kickoff, Trump told Politico on Tuesday, March 3 that he’s not bothered about whether Team Melli shows up.
“I really don’t care,” Trump said. “I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks over the weekend, FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said his organization was focused on ‘all the teams participating’ in the World Cup as planned.
But Iran’s soccer federation president cast doubt on his country’s participation in the aftermath of the U.S. and Israeli attacks.
‘What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,’ Mehdi Taj told Iran state television.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino — who awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize in December — has not addressed the situation in the Middle East directly since the outbreak of conflict.
‘FIFA president Gianni Infantino shared over the weekend the intention of a safe and secure World Cup where all teams are participating. And we’re certainly very supportive of that,’ U.S. Soccer CEO J.T. Batson told Sky News on Tuesday.
