With 100 days to go until the start of the 2026 Soccer World Cup, a series of qualifiers that will be played this March will determine the last six teams that will complete the tournament, expanded to 48 teams.
But with US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Iran’s retaliation in the Middle East, one of the playoff contenders – likely Iran’s neighbor Iraq – could replace Iran, which qualified a year ago.
“It is not possible to say exactly, but there will certainly be a response,” declared the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, on Iranian IRIB channel 3 on Monday, March 2. “Surely this will be studied by the country’s top sporting officials and a decision will be made about what is going to happen. But what we can say now is that, due to this attack and its cruelty, it is far from our expectations to be able to look at the World Cup with hope.”
The Iranian men’s team will play its three World Cup group stage matches in the United States. First against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, host city of the 2028 Olympic Games, and then against Egypt in Seattle.
A World Cup for everyone?
FIFA, which organizes the tournament, says it is monitoring the situation and its secretary general, Mattias Grafstrom, added that “our goal is to hold a safe World Cup in which everyone participates.”
However, Iranian fans will be prohibited from traveling to the United States to attend the tournament as they, like other qualified countries such as Ivory Coast, Senegal and Haiti, are on the US travel ban list, although players and authorized officials are not affected by the ban.
Still, Trump’s travel bans and the overall perceived hostility toward foreigners among ICE agents also raise security concerns among potential visitors.
Although rumors of a European boycott of the tournament have calmed slightly since Trump withdrew his threats to forcibly annex Greenland earlier this year, the US president’s volatility makes predictions difficult.
Trump’s close relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino further complicates matters. Infantino attended Trump’s Peace Board presentation just over a week before the Iran attacks and wore a MAGA-style hat at the event.
Exorbitant ticket prices
For fans coming from countries not on the banned list or at war with the hosts, ticket prices and associated costs are controversial. Tickets for the final cost from $2,000 and the best seats, $8,680. That’s without taking into account FIFA’s resale portal, which recently had a ticket for sale for $143,750.
Prices could rise even further, as FIFA withholds an undetermined number of tickets that will go on sale in April, once all qualifiers are known (unless there are boycotts or withdrawals). These tickets will be sold on a “first come, first served” basis, and the lack of regulation around secondary ticket sellers, including FIFA’s own platform, has many fans fearing the situation will worsen.
Mexican cartels also cast a shadow over the event
Until recently, preparations for the tournament in Mexico and Canada seemed calmer. Mexico City will host the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on June 11, and matches in the country will be played in three cities.
However, the wave of violence unleashed by the murder of “El Mencho”, leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, at the end of February, has also raised some concerns about security in the country.
Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed last week that FIFA will soon visit Mexico for an evaluation, but that Infantino told her he had “full confidence” in the country as host.
“He assured me that the World Cup would be held in our country,” he said. “We agreed that a FIFA team would definitely come to review several issues. We have been working on this for a long time, but the issue of security is especially important, of course.”
Two Canadian cities, Toronto and Vancouver, will also host matches.
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