Indonesia did not even consider Israel as a country and their government believes it should not exist. They still held a tournament. Granted, not the initial one they were awarded. Your Questions do not have easy answers.
Political recognition is not a prerequisite for guaranteeing entry. Qatar allowed Israeli fans to enter the country for the 2022 World Cup. And that's without Israel qualifying. The answer is blatantly obvious for anyone who values the sporting integrity of a competition.
The US is at war with Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti? Ah, forget it. Moving on... Mexico promise extra security for 2026 finals; Iraq calls from march playoffs to be suspended - Inside World Football Surely there must be a way to get Iraq to Mexico in time (and by air). Can't Infantino call one of his fellow world leaders? Perhaps the FIFA peace prize recipient?
Putin had the patience to withhold a major multi year geopolitical conflict for the Winter Olympics. Trump admin should stop speedrunning into the ground all goodwill around this event and the USMNT and maybe try to hold off shenanigans until after? Just maybe for their own good? I'm not sure if they remember there are midterms this year (if they don't bother to cancel them like they sometimes claim) and having a great WC2026 with USMNT success and hype would do wonders for promoting some national unity and perhaps even divert attention away from Epstein's island etc. Last I checked the polls it's looking pretty bad for the guys in charge, and the polls are pretty accurate outside of Presidential election years. Would be great for the country to actually get behind something positive together. Getting fans terrified of coming here, getting the world to basically hate the US more than they possibly ever have in the country's existence and bombing participating nations is really a wrong way to go about this (The rest of the problems (ticketing, pricing, etc.) are of course, FIFA's own doing.). With respect to the world cup, the worst thing that could happen to the current government is people don't care and there is little news or talk about it as it will continue to put into focus all the media circus around this admin.
Mods: I think it’s time to open a new thread called: Talking Out of Our Arses: the World Cup Version thanks for your attention to this matter
An example from much longer ago when North Korea qualified for the '66 World Cup. At the time the UK did not recognize North Korea as a country. A lot of discussion in this article of how that issue was fudged: https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/04/29/north-korea-chollima-1966-and-tragedy/
This is not how Trump thinks. He literally described a US Olympian as "a real loser" and "hard to root for" during the winter Olympics. Trying to unite the country during the WC is not on his agenda.
For those who can't be bothered using the wayback machine, instead of removing the turf like Atlanta, they are putting 6 inches of sand and other base materials on top of the turf and planting sod on top of that. This will enable them to remove the grass pitch (unfortunately) as soon as the World Cup is over and start the NFL season on turf. Unlike Atlanta they can grow grass in direct sunlight as there's no roof.
Everything would be better under Harris. We elected a President with the mind of a 3rd grade playground bully.
United States president Donald Trump says Iran 'welcome' at World Cup insists Gianni Infantino - ESPN
Iran is confirming that they will boycott the World Cup - very unfortunate news Iran will not participate in the 2026 World Cup after the United States killed its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali said Wednesday.“Since this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, we cannot participate in the World Cup under any… pic.twitter.com/7m2ZVZ0nks— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 11, 2026
I wonder if a team that didn’t qualify from Asia (Iran’s replacement) verse New Zealand is the worst all time World Cup game (on paper) ever? In LA too, a big stadium I believe. Unless they substitute with China I’d imagine demand has dropped. LA has a big Iranian community was one thing this game had going for it. Obviously the destruction and suffering of the war is the bigger and more important story.
This was always the most likely outcome. And some diehard had the nerve to say Trump was good for this world cup. Infantino is a clown. Making up a stupid "peace prize" to give to a genocidal maniac who bombed one of the participating countries out of the competition. This must be a first, and an alltime low for the sport. Even worse Iraq cannot make the playoff, but .maybe they will just take Iran's place.
confirmed Iran cannot participate in World Cup, sports minister says https://t.co/67LUNYsmf4— CTV News (@CTVNews) March 11, 2026