Iran confirm plans to boycott 2026 World Cup draw over visa issue

The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) spokesman, Amir-Mahdi Alavi, stated the officials faced "visa obstacles that go beyond sports considerations". The U.S. granted only four visas, including one for the head coach, but notably denied the application for FFIRI President Mehdi Taj for the ceremony at the Kennedy Center on December 5th. Iran views the decision as a non-sporting, political decision and has informed FIFA, urging the governing body to intervene. 

The incident has raised speculation that the travel ban could potentially impact Iran's participation in the actual tournament to be held in America, Canada and Mexico, but officials have not confirmed a World Cup boycott at this stage. The issue highlights broader diplomatic tensions, as the U.S. previously announced potential visa exemptions for athletes and support staff for major sports events, though their application to the draw was unclear.  

Following the announcement, Taj said: "We are evaluating our options, which will depend on timing and circumstances. We remain in close communication with the Iranian foreign ministry and other authorities, and we will take the necessary decision at the appropriate time. The current position of the Iran Football Federation executive committee is that no one will attend the event unless all visas are issued. It appears to us that the matter has become politicised. We informed the FIFA president, Mr. Infantino, that they have taken a political stance and the situation is completely politicised. We believe that FIFA should take a stand against such behaviour." 

Iran have consistently navigated the challenging Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualification process to secure berths in the last four consecutive FIFA World Cups: 2014, 2018, 2022, and the upcoming 2026 tournament, making seven appearances in total at the tournament in the competition’s history. 

For the 2014 World Cup, they topped their final qualification group with a decisive win against South Korea. They achieved back-to-back appearances for 2018 by dominating their group undefeated, without conceding a goal in the final two rounds. Qualification for 2022 saw them again finish atop their group as the first Asian team to secure a spot with a win over Iraq. Most recently, they secured their place for the 2026 World Cup with a draw against Uzbekistan during the third round of the qualifiers in March 2025, marking an unprecedented fourth consecutive appearance through consistent top-tier performance relative to the quality in their confederation. 

There's no suggestion Iran will boycott the tournament, but if the visa issue remains unresolved and they do pull out, FIFA will have a decision to make on who they replace them with. FIFA regulations state that if an association withdraws or is excluded from the competition, the Organising Committee "shall decide on the matter at its sole discretion and take whatever action is deemed necessary". If they pull out before the main tournament draw FIFA would be more likely to invite a replacement team to fill the spot in the final tournament to avoid an unbalanced group. This replacement would likely be the best-ranked non-qualifying team, potentially from the AFC. If they withdraw after this point the spot at the tournament would most likely remain empty and opponents awarded victory by forfeit.