Trump says it is not appropriate for Iran to be at World Cup ‘for their own life and safety’
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Iran's players lining up before a World Cup qualifier against North Korea in Tehran on June 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Trump said Iran's football team are welcome at the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico, but he thought it inappropriate for their safety.
- Iran's sports minister said Iranian athletes cannot participate after US/Israeli airstrikes against Tehran, following a region-wide conflict.
- Five Iranian women footballers sought asylum in Australia, fearing persecution for refusing to sing the anthem; Trump urged Albanese to grant it.
AI generated
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on March 11 the Iranian men’s national football team were welcome to participate in the 2026 World Cup, but that he believed it was not appropriate that they be there.
“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,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) issued a statement on social media late on Thursday saying the United States should not be allowed to host the World Cup if it could not guarantee the safety of players.
“The World Cup is a historic and international event and its custodian is FIFA, not any country,” it read.
“Some so-called celebrities want Iran’s team excluded from the World Cup, but if any country should be excluded it is a host country that cannot ensure the safety of the teams taking part.”
Mr Trump later made it clear that any threat to players at the World Cup would not come from the United States.
“It will be the Greatest and Safest Sporting Event in American History,” he said in another Truth Social post.
“All Players, Officials, and Fans will be treated like the “STARS” that they are!”
Iran’s sports minister said on March 11 that it was not possible for his nation's athletes to participate after the US 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 US, 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 football’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.
In late 2025, it awarded Mr 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 footballers after they sought asylum, fearing persecution on their return home for their refusal to sing the national anthem at an Asia Cup match.
Mr Trump had urged Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to grant asylum to members of the Iranian women’s team, saying the US would if Australia did not. REUTERS
