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The participation of Iran at this summer's World Cup has been thrown into fresh doubt by the reported cancellation of their warm-up matches.
World Cup 2026 already bears the weight of Iran players, supporters and officials being unwelcome at best in the United States, one of three host nations, despite qualifying on the pitch just like anyone else.
Iran qualified for World Cup 2026 on the pitch but friendly cancellations renew withdrawal threat
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has put the world governing body in a shameful position with specific regard to Iran as a participating football nation, buddying up to Trump and leaving FIFA with no recourse when the leader of the free world runs roughshod over a tournament that usually stands accused of taking more from host nations than it gives back.
So tenuously tenable is Iran's World Cup place that any new development could be the one that finally persuades the Iranian government and FA to withdraw the team, not least the new blows over which they have no control.
Iran's preparations have already been disrupted by much more important matters but two warm-up friendly matches in the United States have been cancelled by their opponents.
"One of these matches was against North Macedonia. Despite previous agreements and an official statement from the football federation confirming the match, North Macedonia decided to cancel the friendly," reports Tehran Times.
"Additionally, Angola, which was set to be Iran’s opponents in the US as part of the pre-World Cup preparations, also cancelled their fixture.
"The Iranian Football Federation is currently working to find replacement teams to ensure the team’s training and preparation schedule remains on track."
Offensive third-party requests that Italy take over Iran's World Cup spot never had much basis other than Infantino's disregard for sporting integrity and were quickly suppressed by the Italian government, with a play-off more likely to decide a replacement in the event that Iran did withdraw.
Iran were drawn into Group G, meaning all three of their World Cup 2026 group stage fixtures will be played in the United States in June.
Their campaign gets underway against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Monday, June 15. Match two will be against Belgium at the same venue six days later.
Iran's group stage fixtures conclude against Egypt at Seattle's Lumen Field on Friday, June 26.
