World Cup 2026: US-Iran war adds to list of concerns

DW News · Mar 2, 2026 · Collected from RSS

Full Article

March 3 marks 100 days until the 2026 World Cup kicks off. A series of playoffs this month will determine the last six teams to make up the newly expanded 48-team tournament. But with the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Iran's retaliatory strikes in the Middle East, one of those playoff contenders — likely Iran's neighbors Iraq — may replace Iran, who qualified a year ago. "It's not possible to say exactly, but there will certainly ​be a response," Iran Football Federation President, Mehdi Taj, said on Monday on Iran's IRIB Channel 3. "This will surely be studied by the country's high-ranking sports officials and there will ⁠be ​a decision on what's going to ​happen. "But what we can say now is that due to this ​attack and its viciousness, ‌it is far from our expectations that we can look at the World Cup with ​hope." While no decision has been taken for the men's side, Iran's women kicked off their Asian Cup campaign with defeat to South Korea on Monday in Australia with nothing in the way of protest or politics on display. While Australia has not directly attacked Iran in the way that the US and Israel have, the Australian Prime Minister. Anthony Albanese, has said that "we support the United States" in its actions. Iran's men are due to play all three of their World Cup group games in the US. First against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, host city of the 2028 Olympics, then Egypt in Seattle. A World Cup for everybody? Tournament organizers FIFA have said they are monitoring the situation, and the organization's general secretary, Mattias Grafstrom, added that "our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating". However, Iranian fans will be banned from traveling to the US for the tournament as they — like fellow qualifiers Ivory Coast, Senegal and Haiti — are on US President Donald Trump's travel ban list. Players and approved officials are exempt. Trump's travel bans, and a perceived general air of hostility to foreigners enforced by ICE agents are also sparking safety concerns among potential travelers. While talk of a European boycott of the tournament has cooled slightly since Trump backed down on his threats to annex Greenland by force earlier this year, the unpredictability of the US president makes predictions difficult. Trump's close relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino further muddies the waters. Infantino was at the launch of Trump's Board of Peace just over a week before the Iran attacks and donned a MAGA-style cap at the event.Price proving prohibitive For those from countries not on the banned list or at war with the hosts, the price of tickets and associated costs are controversial. Final tickets start at $2,000 ($1704) and the best seats are $8,680. That's before accounting for FIFA's resale portal which recently had a ticket listed at $143,750. Prices could rise still higher, with FIFA holding back an unspecified number of tickets to be released in April, once all the qualifiers are known (barring any boycotts or withdrawals). These will be on a "on a first come, first served basis" and the lack of regulation around secondary ticket sellers, including FIFA's own platform, has many fans concerned things will get worse. With US stadiums often only accessible by car, even those fans lucky enough to afford the ticket, travel and accommodation will be stung for parking. A spot at the SoFi stadium in Los Angeles, for example, will set you back $300 and still leave you a mile (1.6 kilometers) to walk. These costs are significantly higher than they would be for US domestic sporting events at the same arenas. Fan parks in major doubt For those without tickets, or with tickets to matches elsewhere, fan parks have become part of the World Cup tapestry in the last 20 years. But a partial federal shutdown in the US has put those in doubt this year. Almost $900 million designated for the 11 host cities in the US has yet to be received, leading to many cities warning they may have to scrap events.New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has been among those critical of World Cup ticket pricesImage: Andrea Renault/ZUMA/picture alliance "We have to start making some really tough decisions and it starts with our fan festival," Ray Martinez, chief operating officer of the Miami World Cup Host Committee said, warning that there must be resolution before the end of this month. Other cities have made similar noises. "The matches up at the stadium will take place, but preparing for all the impromptu events and watch parties that we are expecting to see will be in jeopardy." Mexico cartels also cast shadow Preparations for the tournament in Mexico and Canada had, until recently, appeared more serene. Mexico City will host the tournament opener between the hosts and South Africa on June 11 and the country will host games across three cities. But a wave of violence set off by the killing of a Mexican drug cartel boss in late February has raised some safety concerns there too. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed last week that FIFA will visit the country soon to make an assessment but that Infantino told her he has "full confidence” in the country as a host. "He assured me that the World Cup would be held in our country," she said. "We agreed that a FIFA team would definitely come to review several issues. We've been working on this for a long time but the issue of security is particularly important, of course." Two Canadian cities, Toronto and Vancouver, will also host games. Edited by: Chuck Penfold