<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>5 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup kicks off in three months, but what was set to be one of the most straightforward editions to organise in the tournament\u2019s history appears to be growing more complicated by the day.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli-United States war on Iran has created massive uncertainty across the globe, and FIFA\u2019s showpiece event is already feeling the ramifications along with policy and political issues that were already rumbling in the Americas.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the five issues the competition \u2013 cohosted by the US, Mexico and Canada \u2013 must resolve before the first match on June 11 between Mexico and South Africa.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"will-iran-participate-at-fifa-world-cup-2026-in-us\">Will Iran participate at FIFA World Cup 2026 in US?<\/h2>\n<p>Iran\u2019s sports minister said on Wednesday that the country cannot \u2060\u2060participate in the FIFA World \u2060Cup after the \u2060US killed its supreme leader.<\/p>\n<p>Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated on the first day of the US-Israel war, and all of its national football team\u2019s World Cup group games are to be played in US cities.<\/p>\n<p>The US and Israeli attacks began on February 28. So far, 1,255 people have been killed in Iran and more than 12,000 wounded.<\/p>\n<p>Iran has hit back with strikes on Israel, US military bases in neighbouring Middle East states and infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsidering that this corrupt \u2060regime [the US] has \u2060assassinated our leader, under no circumstances \u2060can we \u2060participate in \u2060the World Cup,\u201d Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali told \u200cstate television.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4389760\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4389760\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4389760\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-05T223804Z_2020330596_RC22XJAN9ZNK_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-IRAN-1773246124.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\" alt=\"The American flag flutters near a sign pointing to the soccer stadium at Kino Sports Complex, where the Iranian men\u2019s soccer team is scheduled to practice for the FIFA World Cup, in Tucson, Arizona\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4389760\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The US flag flies near a football stadium at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, where the Iranian national team is scheduled to practise for the World Cup [Rebecca Noble\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"is-the-us-willing-to-host-iran-at-world-cup-in-time-of-war\">Is the US willing to host Iran at World Cup in time of war?<\/h2>\n<p>US President Donald Trump would \u201cwelcome\u201d Iran\u2019s participation in the World Cup, according to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.<\/p>\n<p>Before Iran\u2019s announcement, Infantino took to Instagram on Wednesday to state that despite the war in the Middle East, Trump had reiterated his stance on Iran\u2019s involvement during a meeting between the pair to discuss the upcoming tournament.<\/p>\n<p>As the draw stands, the US and \u200cIran could come head-to-head at the tournament if they both \u200cfinish second in their respective groups. A July 3 elimination match in Dallas would be the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, if the US themselves refused to host the Iranian team, then FIFA could remove them as a World Cup host \u2013 a fate the Indonesia already befell.<\/p>\n<p>As hosts of the men\u2019s Under-20 World Cup three years ago, Indonesia refused to welcome Israel. FIFA dropped the tournament host just weeks before the scheduled first game and moved that competition to Argentina.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-the-latest-on-iraq-s-qualifications-playoff-match\">What is the latest on Iraq\u2019s qualifications playoff match?<\/h2>\n<p>Iraq are facing major logistical issues as a result of the war before their March 31 qualifier for the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>The winner of Iraq\u2019s intercontinental playoff against either Suriname or Bolivia will advance to the 2026 edition, but Iraqi airspace is closed until April 1 due to the war, and the squad is predominantly made up of players from the domestic league.<\/p>\n<p>With the squad struggling to fully gather for the match, the head coach of the national team, Graham Arnold, asked FIFA on Monday to delay his team\u2019s qualifier.<\/p>\n<p>The match is due to be played in Monterrey, Mexico, and the host country issued some visas to Iraq\u2019s players at their embassy in Qatar on March 8.<\/p>\n<p>In a further complication, Mexico does not have an embassy in Iraq for the remaining players.<\/p>\n<p>Mexico has issued an assurance to Iraq that it will \u201cprovide all necessary assistance in documenting the members of the Iraqi national team\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"mexico-violence-raises-questions-over-it-hosting-world-cup-games\">Mexico violence raises questions over it hosting World Cup games<\/h2>\n<p>While the US and the rest of the world face complications related to the war on Iran, Mexico is facing its own internal issues.<\/p>\n<p>A wave of violence was triggered in the country on February 23 after the killing of a drug lord who led one of the most powerful Mexican criminal organisations.<\/p>\n<p>Gunmen torched cars and blocked highways in more than half a dozen states in the immediate aftermath of news of his killing.<\/p>\n<p>The first match of the World Cup is being staged in Mexico City with a second on the same day in Guadalajara, which was rocked by last month\u2019s violence.<\/p>\n<p>Mexican officials thereafter sought to assure FIFA authorities and potential travellers that the tournament would be safe.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico would deploy as many as 100,000 members of its security forces during the competition, assuring football fans that there was \u201cno risk\u201d in coming to the country.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4389763\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4389763\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4389763\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03T193113Z_912064911_RC23XJA45JVC_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-MEXICO-1773246282.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C541&quality=80\" alt=\"Brazilian former soccer player Jose Roberto Gama de Oliveira 'Bebeto' shakes hands with Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum in front of the FIFA World Cup trophy during her morning press conference at the National Palace, in Mexico City\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4389763\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Brazilian football player Jose Roberto Gama de Oliveira shakes hands with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during the FIFA World Cup trophy tour [Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"what-are-the-fifa-world-cup-2026-ticketing-issues\">What are the FIFA World Cup 2026 ticketing issues?<\/h2>\n<p>As with numerous global events in sport and entertainment, the availability and pricing of World Cup tickets for standard seats is a sore point for the general public.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 2 million tickets were sold in the first two sales phases for the 2026 edition, and demand was so intense that tickets were oversubscribed more than 30 \u200ctimes.<\/p>\n<p>The most expensive tickets for the opening game are being advertised at almost $900 while for the final, that figure is more than $8,000<\/p>\n<p>Tickets in general cost at least $200 for matches involving leading nations. The cheapest tickets for the final cost $2,000 and the best seats $8,680.<\/p>\n<p>Then there is FIFA\u2019s official resale site, where one category three seat for the final in New Jersey on July 19 was being advertised for an eye-watering $143,750, more than 41 times its original face value of $3,450.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a05 mins info The 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup kicks off in three months, but what was set to be one of the most straightforward editions to organise in the tournament\u2019s history appears to be growing more complicated by the day. The Israeli-United States war on Iran has created massive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}