Seattle World Cup plans upended as Iran withdrawal clouds June match and FIFA replacement

SEATTLE — Iran’s national soccer team will no longer participate in the upcoming World Cup, citing security concerns tied to escalating tensions surrounding the war in the Middle East.

Iran’s minister of sports and youth announced the decision this week, saying the team would not have adequate security and that its safety could not be guaranteed if players traveled to compete. The move comes months before Iran was scheduled to face Egypt in June in Seattle.

It remains unclear what will happen to that matchup or other matches involving Iran that had been scheduled in the United States.

Iran says country can’t take part in the FIFA World Cup because of US attacks

The announcement has drawn reactions from Iranian Americans in the Seattle area, some of whom said they are disappointed for the athletes who worked to qualify for the tournament.

“I’m totally disappointed for the players, frankly, who have worked so hard to get here,” said Etan Basseri, a local Persian American. “They’ve qualified for previous World Cups, and now they’re essentially being punished because of the decisions of this regime.”

“Individuals, whether they’re Iranian, whether they’re Israeli, no matter who they are, they should not be punished for the actions of their government,” he added.

“I have this mixed feeling,” Ali Kimiai, an Iranian American living in the Seattle area, told KOMO News. “I love soccer. I grew up with soccer. I still play soccer, and I like to be involved with the World Cup as much as I can, especially if the team representing Iran, where I was born, is playing.”

“But on the other hand, with all the atrocities that have happened over the past two to three months, it’s very hard to support the Iranian national team or the government right now,” Kimiai said.

Political Tensions Surround the Decision

Iran’s matches were previously scheduled to take place in Los Angeles and Seattle.

The withdrawal comes amid broader political tensions involving Iran’s national teams.

Iran’s women’s team recently made headlines after players refused to sing the current regime’s national anthem before their match in Australia. Following the game, at least five players have since applied for asylum in Australia and were granted humanitarian visas.

“The regime is also afraid of sending these teams out because they don’t know if they send them, are they going to join the opposition, are they going to apply for political asylum?” Shayan Arya, another Iranian-American in the Seattle area, said. “It’s going to be a big disaster in terms of the propaganda.”

“As far as the Iranian people are concerned, they don’t look at this like a war; they look at it as liberation,” Kimiai said.

What Happens Next

It remains uncertain what will happen with the matches originally scheduled in the United States.

Officials with Seattle’s FIFA World Cup 2026 organizing committee said they have not yet received any notice that the schedule will change.

In a statement to KOMO News, officials with SeattleFWC26 said:

“All match scheduling decisions rest with FIFA. At this time, SeattleFWC26 has not received any communication from FIFA indicating a change to our current match schedule, and our work continues uninterrupted.”

Some Iranian-Americans feel the international soccer governing body should take further action.

Kimiai said he believes FIFA should consider banning Iran’s national team entirely.

“FIFA itself should ban the Iranian soccer team, because not less than two months ago, the regime committed the atrocity,” Kimiai said. “They killed 30,000 people in two days, and I don’t think people should even allow the Iranian team to attend the World Cup.”

According to reports, President Donald Trump met with FIFA’s president earlier this week and said Iran’s team would be welcome to participate in the tournament.

ESPN reports FIFA’s rules on how to replace a team that withdraws are unclear. If Iran does not participate, countries such as Iraq or the United Arab Emirates could potentially take its place in the tournament.

For now, the fate of Iran’s scheduled World Cup matches, including the game planned in Seattle, remains uncertain.