Due to Iran’s war with Israel and America, the upcoming Football World Cup 2026 has also come under question. This time 48 teams are going to participate in the World Cup to be held in America, Mexico and Canada in June-July and Iran is also included in it. But after the US-Israel attack on February 28, questions remain over Iran’s participation in this World Cup. Amidst all this, the biggest host of the tournament, America’s President Donald Trump has surprised everyone by threatening the Iranian team.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will start from June 11 (June 12 in India) till June 19, in which Iranian team Has been placed in Group-G. Teams from New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt are also included here. Iran has to play all three of its group stage matches in America only. In such a situation, after the American attack, there is a fear that the Iranian team will not participate in the World Cup. Regarding this, Iran’s Sports Minister had also announced that he cannot send his football team to America.
Trump’s threat to Iran football team
Just a day after this announcement by the Iranian Sports Minister, US President Trump wrote a threatening post in the name of Iran’s football team. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The Iran football team is welcome to the World Cup, but I don’t think they should be here if they care about life and safety. Thank you for bringing attention to this issue.”
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Donald Trump on Truth Social, recommending that Iran should not attend the World Cup. pic.twitter.com/VEDwDz9U1Z
—The Touchline 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) March 12, 2026
Iranian team hits back at Trump
After Trump’s threat, the Iran football team also retaliated and posted a statement on social media saying that a historic tournament like the World Cup is not organized by any one country but by an organization. The team said that they had qualified for the World Cup with their strength and ability and no one can throw them out of the World Cup. The Iranian team even said that America should be expelled from the tournament because it is the host in name only but does not behave like hosts and fails to provide security to the teams.
The Iranian national teams response to Donald Trump:
The World Cup is a historic and international event, and its organizer is FIFA—not any single country. The Iranian national team also qualified for this event with authority and through consecutive victories, becoming one of https://t.co/ujCqudVpLF pic.twitter.com/oWIKWW8a1l
— Erfan Hosseini
(@Eri1806) March 12, 2026
FIFA under question
This threatening post of Trump has come at a time when constant pressure is being put on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to snatch the hosting of the World Cup from America and to ban America-Israel for attacking Iran, as Russia was done for attacking Ukraine. Also, Infantino himself had given a statement a day earlier that he had talked to Trump, who did not talk about any kind of problem while welcoming the Iranian team to come for the World Cup.