The recent armed conflict that has occurred in Middle East sets off the alarms months away World Cup 2026 soccerafter the possible withdrawal of Iran, which has already secured its ticket, but is under attack from USA.
The president of the Federation, Mehdi Taj He appeared on television to signal the possible withdrawal of the Iranian team, given the recent problem they face.
For the moment, the FIFA remains waiting for what may happen with the Iran national teambefore making any type of decision in this regard, since they would have to see how to replace or in an exceptional case, change the venues of their meetings so that they do not have to set foot on American soil.
It should be remembered that this is not the first time that a team decides to decline its participation in a World Cupbeing something that has happened since 1930, during the first edition in Uruguay, for different reasons, especially war issues.
The teams that have declined their participation in a World Cup after qualifying
They qualified for the 1950 World Cup without playing qualifying rounds, after the losses of other teams in Asia. However, he decided to retire due to financial reasons, long boat trips and differences with FIFA, in addition to the famous issue of playing barefoot. His absence left the group with only three selections.
Although he obtained his place by finishing among the best in the British Championshipthe Scottish federation had made it a condition to go only if they were champions. After finishing second behind England, she refused to attend despite having a World Cup ticket.
It achieved its classification after the suspension of Germany due to the Second World War, but financial problems and the complexity of the trip to South America caused the Turkish federation to resign from participating.
- Argentina – France 1938
She had been a natural candidate to participate, but decided not to attend in protest because the tournament was once again organized in Europe and not in South America, as expected due to the rotation of venues. His absence was one of the most controversial of the time.
This was a special case, since they would be the host country For that year, however, they decided to decline the selection due to economic issues, so they did not automatically qualify. In the playoffs they did not get a ticket, so they did not participate in that edition.
There are cases like those of the World Cup in Italy 1934where several South American teams declined their participation, because it would be played in Europe and as a protest against the European teams that had not traveled to Uruguay 1930.
