Sports
Iran To Boycott 2026 World Cup Draw Amid Visa Row With Donald Trump
The Iranian football federation are set to boycott next week’s draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington D.C. The news comes amid an ongoing dispute with the country’s President, Donald Trump.
Iran, who qualified for the competition for the fourth successive time in March, are one of 19 nations whose citizens are restricted from entering the United States next summer after a travel ban was announced by the President in June 2025. Haiti, who qualified for the tournament in November after a 2-0 win against Nicaragua, also find themselves in the same predicament.
An exemption to the ban was set to be granted for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.” But in October, the US denied the Iranian delegation entry for the World Cup draw, which is set to take place on the 5th December.
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Iranian Federation Now Set to Boycott World Cup Draw
The report at the time stated that the list of people denied entry to the US included the federation’s president, Mehdi Taj, national team coach, Amir Ghalenoei, and seven other officials. After taking the issue up with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Ghalenoei and four others were granted a visa, but Taj and three individuals were still denied one.
A spokesperson for the country’s football federation, Amir Mehdi Alavi, told the Tehran Times, via the Guardian, how the decision to reject the application was, “unrelated to sport,” with the move potentially leading to Iran withdrawing from the competition completely.
“We have informed Fifa that the decisions taken are unrelated to sport and that the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw.”
Amid the uncertainty created by Trump’s travel ban, Infantino met with the President earlier in November to discuss a faster visa interview process for those travelling to the US for the World Cup. FIFA have since confirmed the creation of the FIFA Pass, which will give ticket holders for the competition priority access to the visa applications process. But they are not guaranteed to be successful, with the government recently announcing that Haiti fans applying for entry will not be granted special circumstances to attend matches.
Trump Set to Join Infantino for World Cup Draw
So far, 42 teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, which is set to take place across the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer between June and July. The six remaining spots will be decided through play-offs, with four set to be filled by European nations, while two will be awarded via an inter-confederation mini-tournament.
Every country, qualified or not, is set to discover their opponents at the tournament next week, though, with President Trump joining Infantino at the John F Kennedy Center for the draw. Due to the competition’s expansion to 48 teams, the draw is expected to take 45–50 minutes, as nations are drawn into groups A to L.
The full fixture list of group games and kick-off times will be made available after the draw, while an updated match schedule will then be released on 6th December, confirming which stadium will be assigned to each game.
