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Claim: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US has not told the Iranian national team that it cannot play.
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Currently, there’s a fragile ceasefire in the US/Israiel-Iran war. But that hasn’t stopped the conflict in the Middle East from affecting sports. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to be co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. However, the group stages are allocated to American cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle.
Naturally, the country’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, claimed on March 11 that their players can’t participate in the World Cup due to safety concerns for players. By March 19, however, Iran’s football chief Mehdi Taj revealed that they intend to boycott matches in the United States. But they won’t withdraw from the World Cup entirely.
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With three matches scheduled for the States, Iran started negotiating with FIFA to have them moved to Mexico instead. Later in the month, Iran’s Ministry of Sports banned players and club teams from traveling to hostile nations. Iran’s request to move the matches to Mexico was rejected, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino insisted that Iran was welcome to play their three matches in the United States.
The matches are set to begin on June 11 across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Amid all this, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared an update from Washington regarding their stance on allowing Iran to participate in the 2026 World Cup.
Our Verdict: True
According to a report from Al Jazeera, Rubio claimed Washington doesn’t object to Iranian players participating in the group-stage matches being held in the country. However, he revealed that players aren’t allowed to bring people into the country who have ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Nothing from the US has told them they can’t come,” Rubio told reporters. “The problem with Iran would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in, but not the athletes themselves. They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers.”
Washington, of course, views the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organization”. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who was also there, added that his administration doesn’t want to “affect the athletes.” On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Iranian government, Fatemeh Mohajerani, revealed that arrangements for Iran’s participation in the World Cup have been made by the Ministry of Sports and Youth.
Still, Paolo Zampolli, an Italian-American envoy for the United States, revealed that he had suggested to both Donald Trump and FIFA’s President that Italy should replace Iran in the tournament. Italy had failed to qualify for the tournament a third time in a row, while Iran had earned their place in FIFA for the fourth time last year.
Zampolli’s suggestion, however, didn’t land with Italian politicians. Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi criticized the idea, claiming it would be inappropriate since teams qualify on the pitch. Meanwhile, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti outright branded the idea shameful.
Our Fact-Checking Sources
- BBC, April 23, 2026. Why did US and Israel attack Iran and how long could the war last?
- BBC, April 26, 2026. Israeli strikes kill 14 in Lebanon amid ongoing ceasefire
- FIFA, March 30, 2026. FIFA World Cup 2026: Fixtures, groups, teams, tickets, host countries, cities and more
- Reuters, March 11, 2026. Iran cannot participate in World Cup, minister says
- ESPN, March 19, 2026. Iran soccer chief: We’ll boycott U.S., but not the World Cup
- March 27, 2026. Iran forbids sports teams from travel to ‘hostile’ countries
- Al Jazeera, April 12, 2026. FIFA rejects Iran’s request to relocate World Cup games amid US-Israel war
- Al Jazeera, April 24, 2026. US says Iran can play at 2026 World Cup but bars those with ‘IRGC ties’
- USA Today, April 22, 2026. Iran ‘fully prepared’ to participate in 2026 World Cup
- The Guardian, April 22, 2026. Trump envoy asks Fifa to replace Iran with Italy at World Cup finals
- Al Jazeera, April 23, 2026. Italy slams Trump envoy proposal of taking Iran’s place in World Cup 2026
