 "Explained: How FIFA could prevent Iran from playing in US during 2026 World Cup")
US President Donald Trump has announced that he has brokered a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran, but tensions will certainly linger on, and things won’t go back to what it was. All of this has raised a new concern for the global footballing body FIFA, which is now pondering how it can prevent Iran from playing their FIFA World Cup 2026 group matches in the US, a report says.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. Iran have already qualified for the mega event. While FIFA doesn’t have a provision in its regulations to stop Iran from playing the group matches in the US, the governing body may look to give Iran a spot in Group A, which will ensure they will be having their group matches in Mexico, said a report in the Guardian.
Will FIFA make changes to World Cup 2026 draw rules?
Winning Group A will keep Iran in Mexico till the Last 32 and Last 16 matches. If they progress beyond that, then they will have to go to the US. However, it’s important to note that Iran have never progressed beyond the group stages at a FIFA World Cup in seven editions.
The draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to take place in December 2025 and we are expected to have a final decision by then.
The decision regarding placing Iran in Group A will be made by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has been very close to US president Donald Trump, the FIFA council and the organising committee for competitions.
The organising committee for FIFA competitions includes members from Canada, Mexico and Iran and it is led by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
In 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UEFA, led by Ceferin, announced that Ukraine and Belarus would be kept apart in UEFA competition draws. This step can be implemented this time by FIFA.
Ahead of the World Cup draw in Qatar, the only draw constraint in place was a general guideline: no more than one team from each confederation (except Europe) could be placed in the same group.
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