FIFA has 'sole discretion' but no plan to gift Iran's World Cup 2026 place to Italy: report

FIFA, the world football governing body, has no intention of removing Iran from this summer's World Cup and bringing Italy into the tournament.

World Cup 2026 will be played primarily in the United States, where hostile government action in major cities and military conflict in the Middle East have overshadowed preparation.

The participation of Iran has been in doubt since they qualified because of the nation's ongoing war with the World Cup host country and Donald Trump's thinly-veiled admissions that Iranian visitors will not be safe in the United States, but the tournament is less than two months away and rightful qualifiers Iran have stood their ground.

Italy will not replace Iran at the World Cup, according to reports

The latest intervention from the American political establishment was as nakedly egregious as anything Trump has said about Iran's World Cup participation.

Speaking to the Financial Times, United States special envoy Paolo Zampolli bared his cheek, revealing that: "I confirm I have suggested to Trump and [Gianni] Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup. I'm an Italian native and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion."

Such shameless guff has no place in a serious situation. Only Iran can decide to withdraw at this stage and there has been little recent suggestion that it's likely.

Calling for a team that failed to qualify to replace them is a despicable piece of political manoeuvring that was never intended to bear fruit and showed total disrespect for Iran and the World Cup.

"Under FIFA rules, the world governing body has 'sole discretion' on what happens if a team withdraws or is excluded from the competition," according to BBC Sport.

Nevertheless, BBC sources claim that the governing body is not considering installing Italy, with the United Arab Emirates a more likely replacement – potentially by way of a play-off – as the top non-qualifier from the Asian confederation.

That any of these conversations are happening reflects poorly on the leadership of Infantino, whose proximity to Trump and the United States puts him in an awkward position if the host nation were to, say, engage in war on another FIFA member while others are suspended for the same thing.

Italy have been dragged into the matter by their own incompetence in qualifying. The Azzurri are always a popular contender at the World Cup, not to mention multiple winners, but that doesn't override their shambolic efforts since 2006.

Gennaro Gattuso's team were beaten on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their play-off final in March, becoming the third consecutive Italian cohort to fail to qualify for the World Cup finals.

Italy have not played in a World Cup knock-out match since they won the final against France 20 years ago.