Iran to skip 2026 World Cup draw as US fails to grant enough visas 🇮🇷🇺🇸 | OneFootball

Iran plans to boycott the 2026 World Cup draw, scheduled for Friday, December 5 in Washington, because the United States did not grant visas to several members of its delegation. The Iranian Football Federation announced that, given this situation, it has decided not to send representatives to the event that will determine the composition of the groups for the upcoming World Cup.

For his part, Amir Mehdi Alavi, the delegation’s spokesperson, explained to local media that they informed FIFA that the reasons are not related to sports: “We have informed them that the decisions made have nothing to do with sports and that the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw.”

The Iranian federation also requested the direct intervention of FIFA. Mehdi Taj, its president, stated that they notified Gianni Infantino that this is a purely political stance by the U.S. government and demanded that the organization require diplomatic conflicts to be separated from sporting events. So far, FIFA has not issued any official statement regarding the protest or about parallel efforts to guarantee Iran’s participation.

The background to this dispute is set against more than four decades of tensions between the United States and Iran. Added to this are intermittent nuclear negotiations and the recent military escalation in the region, which has led to cross-attacks and the interruption of diplomatic dialogue. In this context, holding the draw on U.S. soil has reignited the political clash.

Strictly in football terms, the Iranians secured their qualification for the World Cup in Canada, the United States, and Mexico in March, and will face their seventh participation in the competition. Their most emblematic match against the Americans remains the one in 1998, a 2-1 victory celebrated as a historic milestone for the country. In Qatar 2022, however, the 1-0 defeat to the U.S. marked their elimination.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.