Italy’s repechage to World Cup: Iran ready for exclusions, maximum pressure on FIFA

The deadline is here: Monday is the last day available for the communication of the official rosters for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The World Cup is getting closer and closer, and within the next 24 hours the Iranian Federation will be obliged to send FIFA the list of 26 players summoned. The choice is more than complicated, and also affecting it is the issue of visas, which have not yet arrived from the United States: several players are in fact at risk of exclusion due to their relations with the Guardians of the Revolution.

“FIFA regulations have prevented us from having all the players available for the World Cup. In the last 48 hours, we held numerous meetings to finalize the list after careful evaluation,” said coach Ghalenoei. Tehran is putting maximum pressure on FIFA to clarify when visas will be issued to its players and technical staff members. Team Melli has already been forced to move its training camp from Arizona to Tijuana, but entry visas for the three U.S. matches are currently nowhere to be found, just days before the World Cup kicks off.

Iran would still be ready for anything, and to participate despite the exclusion of some players. According to IRNA reports on Sunday night, Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, former head of the Physical Education Organization, argued that the team should show up at the World Cup in any case: “We absolutely must participate in this competition and defend Iran’s flag. We have to endure the controversy.”

“If they were to grant visas to only 11 players, we have to take the field with those same 11 and participate in the World Cup. Talking about not granting visas and possible absence weakens the morale of the players and affects their performance. Of course, if they were to give visas and then block them, that would be another matter.”

In this scenario of generalized uncertainty, the hypothesis of repechage inevitably returns. Under Article 6.7 of FIFA regulations, which provides for the possibility of replacing a withdrawn or excluded association with another federation, Italy – first among the non-qualifiers in the FIFA rankings – remains one of the selections that would be considered in the event of a forfeit. However, the Azzurri’s hopes remain dim: Iran’s willingness to participate in the tournament, even under the most adverse conditions, seems granitic at the moment.