FIFA has no plans to replace Iran with Italy at this summer's World Cup, according to sources, after a private suggestion that Rome take Tehran's spot was made public this week.
That suggestion came from US special envoy Paolo Zampolli, who told the Financial Times he had proposed to Donald Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino that Italy be put into the tournament. Zampolli said he had suggested Italy because he is Italian and because the country’s four titles give it the pedigree to belong at a US-hosted competition.
Infantino pushed back publicly last week. "The Iranian team is coming, for sure," he said, and FIFA sources contacted by this service said there are no plans to substitute another association for Iran in the tournament set to open on 11 June.
The weight of the calendar underlines why the matter matters now: Iran are scheduled to play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on 15 and 21 June, and Egypt in Seattle on 26 June as part of the 2026 World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. With the tournament less than two months away, any late change would scramble venues, logistics and broadcast arrangements.
FIFA regulations give the world governing body sole discretion if a team withdraws or is excluded, and article six of the World Cup regulations explicitly says FIFA may decide to replace the participating member association in question with another association. That clause is the legal mechanism that would allow a substitution, but sources at FIFA say no such move is planned.
The suggestion to parachute Italy in drew swift rejection in Rome. Italy failed to qualify for their third successive World Cup after a qualification play-off defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina last month, and sports minister Andrea Abodi said the idea was both impossible and inappropriate, adding that "you qualify on the pitch." Luciano Buonfiglio, president of the Italian Olympic Committee, said he would feel offended by the notion and reiterated that to go to the World Cup teams must earn it.
The Iranian embassy framed the proposal in political terms and accused the United States of acting out of fear, saying Italy’s footballing greatness was earned on the pitch and contending that attempts to exclude Iran reveal the "moral bankruptcy" of the United States, which it said is afraid even of the presence of eleven young Iranians on the field of play.
Context matters here: Iran’s participation has been shadowed by the wider regional conflict with the United States and Israel, and officials have been watching whether political pressure or security concerns could force a last-minute withdrawal or exclusion. FIFA’s rules provide a path for replacement, and Italy is the highest-ranked nation not qualified for the tournament, which explains why Zampolli focused on the Azzurri.
The tension now is between a public, categorical assurance from FIFA leadership that Iran will play and private lobbying that treats replacements as a political fix. If FIFA keeps its current position and Infantino’s public statement holds, the match schedule for Los Angeles and Seattle should stand. If a withdrawal or exclusion happens, article six hands FIFA the power to choose a replacement—but the federation has said it is not planning that course.
Given FIFA’s clear authority under its own regulations and Infantino’s insistence that "the Iranian team is coming, for sure," the most likely outcome is that Iran will take the field in June. The sharper question left unanswered is whether political pressure will remain confined to talk or escalate into actions that force FIFA to invoke its replacement clause; for now, the roster for the 2026 World Cup still includes Iran, and the fixtures on 15, 21 and 26 June remain on the calendar.
