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The Iranian soccer federation has a bleak outlook on participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against the country entered a fourth day Tuesday.
The tournament, which is being hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada later this summer, has Iran scheduled to kick off its Group G schedule in June in Los Angeles.
But President Donald Trump doesn’t care if Iran decides to pull out of the tournament later this year.
“I really don’t care,” Trump told Politico Tuesday when asked about Iran’s participation in the World Cup. “I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”
Iran was the first team to qualify for the World Cup, yet FIFA says it will continue to monitor the situation.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Iran’s football federation President Mehdi Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 Sunday. “The US regime has attacked our homeland, and this is an incident that will not go unanswered.”
Trump previously mentioned that athletes, staff members and family members would receive an exemption from countries on the banned list to enter the U.S. for the tournament. However, with attacks intensifying in the Middle East, that could change leading up to the tournament.
And there’s even a chance these two teams would face each other in a World Cup elimination game if they both finish second in their respective groups. And that game would be played in Dallas.
Since the U.S. and Israel’s strike Saturday, Iran has responded by firing missiles and drones at Israel and at countries that host U.S. allies or military bases, including Bahrain and Qatar.
The strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials, including Defense Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani, armed forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, and the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Pakpour.
While the men’s team doesn’t know what its World Cup future holds, the Iranian women’s soccer team made a statement Monday during the opening match of the Women’s Asian Cup after players refused to sing while their national anthem, which was played over the speakers at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
The players were in their customary line before their match against South Korea when the Iranian national anthem began to play. The women, looking straight ahead and barely moving, were stoic, and it appeared there were jeers from the crowd. Later, applause erupted from those in attendance after the 3-0 South Korea victory.
Iran’s manager, Marziyeh Jafari, also smiled as she witnessed her players’ silence from the sideline.
After Iran’s World Cup opener, it is scheduled to face Belgium in Los Angeles June 21 and Egypt in Seattle June 26.
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