Italy’s repechage to the World Cup, Donald Trump’s latest attacks create concern

Fantasypolitics also takes the field on the issue of Iran’s participation in the World Cup to be played in North America from June 11 through July 19. There are those who claim – but it seems to be a very far-fetched theory and one that, by the way, has no concrete basis (although it has created a certain stir and led to serial comments from concerned fans) – that the cooling of relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Italian government headed by Giorgia Meloni may have drastically reduced the chances of repechage of the Azzurri, who are in contention with other national teams to take Team Melli’s place should the issue not be resolved in an acceptable timeframe.

The relationship between Trump and Fifa, however, is very solid. On December 5, 2025, at the World Cup draws, the president of the top football body, Gianni Infantino, awarded the nearly 80-year-old tycoon the “Fifa Peace Prize”: an award that sparked a series of controversies for a variety of reasons.

“Do people like him? I can’t imagine that. I’m shocked by her. I thought she had courage, I was wrong. Because she doesn’t want to help us with NATO, she doesn’t want to help us get rid of the nuclear weapon. She is very different from what I thought. She is no longer the same person, and Italy will not be the same country,” Trump’s words, interviewed by Corriere della Sera, about Meloni.

In statements reported by Iran’s Tasnim news agency, the president of the local federation, Mehdi Taj, said, “Amir Ghalenoei will remain the national team’s main technical commissioner during and after the World Cup,” is Tehran’s indirect confirmation on the rainbow review.

“There is no problem regarding Ghalenoei’s presence at the head of the team. We are very satisfied with his work. He simply tries to emphasize that he leaves the final decision to the federation, but he is actually managing the national team excellently,” he added.