Italy’s repechage to the World Cup, Turkey also lines up
In an international context increasingly intertwined between diplomacy and sports, Turkey also ends up entering the debate on Italy’s possible repechage to the 2026 World Cup. It does so, specifically, through the words of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who from Doha recalled the urgency of preserving regional and global stability. A message that, inevitably, also touches on the dossier regarding Iran’s participation in the World Cup, with causes and consequences of a possible withdrawal or exclusion a month away from the rainbow event.
Interviewed by Al Jazeera, Fidan stressed that the top priority in the negotiations between the United States and Iran is to maintain the ceasefire.
The words, those of the Ankara government representative, fit into a framework in which every decision, including FIFA’s on the Iran case, has inevitable political repercussions.
FIFA, for its part, will have to make a final decision soon on whether Iran will be able to participate regularly in the tournament. If not, a window remains open on alternative scenarios: from the three-team group to the mini‑qualifying tournament, to the remote (but discussed) possibility of a repechage without going through intermediate scenarios, with Italy boasting the best ranking among the national teams that failed to qualify.
A problem, that of qualification, which, on the other hand, does not touch Turkey: second in Group E of the European qualifiers, behind European champions Spain and ahead of Georgia and Bulgaria, the national team coached by an Italian himself, Vincenzo Montella, passed just like the Azzurri through the serpentine of the repechage, but managed to win the pass thanks to successes against Romania and Kosovo (both 1-0, Kadioglu in the semifinals and Akturkoglu in the final being decisive).
On the front of Italy’s possible repechage, in any case, official positions remain opposed. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi reiterated his position, “I don’t think there is a chance and then it would not even be appropriate. We qualify on the field, this remains my position.” A Gazzetta dello Sport poll also showed that 78.3 percent of readers were against the possibility of seeing the Azzurri at the rainbow competition.
