The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Paolo Zampolli, the U.S. special representative for global partnerships, has suggested to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Trump that Iran be replaced with Italy in the World Cup, which is set to be held starting in June in several cities across Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.
Unnamed individuals familiar with the matter told the FT that the proposal was a bid to repair the relationship between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. President, but the two fell out when Trump recently criticized Pope Leo XIV, an outspoken opponent of the war. Meloni had called the verbal lashing on the Pontiff “unacceptable,” but Trump fired back, saying she was the “unacceptable” one as she “doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance.”
But Iran reiterated this week that it remains fully prepared to participate in the World Cup.
Rules on replacing a team are outlined in Article 6 of the FIFA 2026 World Cup regulations
Regulation 6.7 then states that if any member team either withdraws or is excluded from the World Cup, FIFA may decide to “replace the Participating Member Association in question with another association.”
What Iran, Trump, and FIFA have said
Iran, which qualified for the World Cup back in 2025, is scheduled to play its matches in the U.S.
Infantino said in a post on Instagram on March 10 that Trump assured Iran was “welcome” to compete in the World Cup, and Trump echoed this on March 12, though the U.S. President added that while Iran could fly to the U.S., he believed it was not “appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
Iranians are among the many nationals currently barred from entering the U.S., though Trump had said in his June 2025 sweeping travel ban proclamation that athletes, members of athletic teams, and persons with a “necessary support role” are exempted. Questions about the rule, however, arose after the State Department rejected visas of some of the Iranian delegates for the World Cup draw last December. “Every single decision is a national security decision,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA task force, told the Associated Press at the time.
“Sports should be outside of politics,” Infantino said at the conference. “Now, we don’t live on the moon; we live on planet Earth. But if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them intact and together, well, we are doing that job.”
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