Italy’s repechage to the World Cup back on the table: Iran toward opting out
Iran is moving toward opting out of the 2026 World Cup. The Middle Eastern country’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, reiterated to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency Tehran’s firm request to hold the World Cup group stage matches in Mexico and not in Los Angeles and Seattle, as planned. This is an organizational challenge for FIFA, which so far has not opened up to this possibility.
“The request to move our matches to Mexico is still valid, but we have not yet received a response,” explained Ahmad Donyamali, the country’s minister at war with the United States. “We will still keep the team ready for the World Cup, although the final decision will be up to our government. Trump’s statements are very contradictory and inconsistent: according to Fifa regulations, security must be provided by the country concerned. The World Cup is coming up soon, and these guarantees are far from a given. Under these circumstances, the likelihood that Iran will participate in the World Cup matches in the United States is very low.”
Iran’s likely forfeit is fueling rumors about Italy: the Azzurri national team is the one with the highest coefficient among those excluded. As an unprecedented situation has occurred, FIFA’s decisions may also come as a surprise. Currently, Iran is qualified and drawn in Group G with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. Under exceptional circumstances such as a protracted war, the Asian selection could be excluded to make way for another selection, not necessarily from the same continent.
Article 6.7 gives hope to ours: “If a participating federation withdraws and/or is excluded from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, FIFA will decide on the matter at its sole discretion and take whatever action it deems necessary. FIFA may decide to replace the participating federation in question with another federation.”
The established practice would not give Italy a chance: it would be the United Arab Emirates, which belongs to the same continent, that would qualify. But FIFA could open to unconventional solutions, and favor instead the selection with the best coefficient in the world ranking, namely Italy. Minister Abodi responded embarrassedly to this possibility: “It seems difficult to me that a European can be repechaged, and I don’t even wish it,” he said on the sidelines of an event.
