Italy repechage to World Cup, official note arrives from'Iran

Due to the current geopolitical situation and the extremely high tension between Washington and Tehran, the participation of the Iranian national team in the upcoming World Cup is in doubt. The start of the rainbow competition, which will take place between the United States, Mexico and Canada, is less than a month away, but the chances that Mehdi Taremi and his teammates will not participate are there.

In the past few hours, rumors have spread that the U.S. Embassy has rejected the visa applications of three important players of Team Melli: Shoja Khalilzadeh, Ehsan Hajsafi and Mehdi Taremi. The Iranian soccer federation issued an official note to clarify the situation.

“Following the spread of some rumors regarding the alleged rejection of visa applications for some players of the Iranian national soccer team in view of their participation in the 2026 World Cup, it is hereby clarified that such news is unfounded,” the statement reads. The administrative procedure regarding the obtaining of visas by the football federation and the national team has been carried out regularly and the circulated claims are false.”

“Therefore, media and information workers are urged to refrain from speculation and the publication of unofficial news on the matter. The Iranian Football Federation will, of course, communicate any updates and information regarding the national team’s participation procedure in the World Cup exclusively through official channels.”

In this context of uncertainty, the issue of possible repechage and qualifiers yet to be defined also opens up. In particular, Italy, Nigeria and Cameroon are closely watching the development of the situation, raising hopes of a possible takeover in the case of exclusions or reassignments.