President Donald Trump discusses meeting with FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force and vows to make the event an 'unprecedented success.'
The groups for the 2026 World Cup will be selected at random next week in Washington, D.C., but one of the participating countries has decided to boycott the draw.
Iran opted not to attend the event because the United States denied visas to members of its delegation, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Friday.
The agency quoted Iranian soccer federation spokesman Amir-Mahdi Alavi as saying that officials faced visa obstacles that go beyond sports considerations. Alavi said the federation had reached out to FIFA and hoped it could help resolve the issue.
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Iran's players celebrate after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia zone qualifiers group A football match between Iran and Uzbekistan, on March 25, 2025 in Tehran. (AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump's administration announced in June a travel ban on citizens from 12 countries, including Iran. The list also included Haiti, which last week qualified for the World Cup.
Exemptions, however, were promised for "any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state."
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
It is unclear whether the exemptions also apply to the World Cup draw, which takes place next Friday at the Kennedy Center.
The Iranian delegation would have been expected to be led by its soccer federation president Mehdi Taj, one of the most senior officials in
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