Trump’s Envoy Suggests Replacing Iran With Italy in World Cup

Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi said the suggestion was inappropriate and qualification must take place on the soccer pitch.

Irans's players pose for a team photo before an Asian group qualifying soccer match against North Korea for the 2026 World Cup at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Iran, on June 10, 2025. Vahid Salemi/AP Photo

President Donald Trump’s special envoy for global partnerships, Paolo Zampolli, has suggested to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the White House that Italy should replace Iran at this summer’s soccer World Cup.

“I confirm I have suggested to Trump and Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup,” Zampolli told the Financial Times in an interview published on April 22.

Since the United States started Operation Epic Fury against Iran on Feb. 28, there have been doubts about whether Iran’s team could compete in the World Cup.

In a post on Truth Social on March 12, Trump wrote, “The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”

Zampoll said that, as an Italian native, it would be a dream to see “the Azzurri” [the Blues] at the tournament.

“With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion,” Zampolli said.

Zampolli reposted the Financial Times article and another in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper on his X account.

Italy won the World Cup in 1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006 but has not qualified for the past three World Cups, including this year’s tournament in North America.

The United States—which will host the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey—is sharing hosting duties for the tournament with Canada and Mexico.

The tournament lasts from June 11 to July 19, and Iran’s three games are due to take place in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Its first game, against New Zealand, is due to kick off on June 15.

Last month, Infantino said Iran would be taking its place at the tournament, which it gained after topping an Asian qualifying group that also contained Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Infantino Keen on Iran Playing

“Iran will be at the World Cup. We’re delighted because they’re a very, very strong team, I’m very happy,” Infantino told the AFP news agency in March.

“[The] matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw.”

Infantino awarded Trump the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize before the draw for the World Cup on Dec. 5, 2025.

Italy failed to qualify after being beaten on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina in a playoff match on March 31.

Bosnia and Herzegovina players celebrate after defeating Italy in a playoff match to qualify for the FIFA World Cup at Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on March 31, 2026. Matteo Ciambelli/Reuters

Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi has ruled out the idea that his country’s team would replace Iran’s.

Abodi told Sky News that qualification takes place on the soccer pitch.

“Italy’s possible re-qualification for the 2026 World Cup, which US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Paolo Zampolli, has reportedly proposed to FIFA, is firstly not possible, and secondly, not appropriate,” Abodi said in an interview published on April 23.

In a post on X on April 23, the Iranian Embassy in Rome wrote, “Football belongs to the people, not to politicians.”

Iranians Claim ‘Moral Bankruptcy’

“Italy has achieved the greatness of football on the field, not thanks to political gain,” the Iranian Embassy said, according to a translation. “The attempt to exclude Iran from the World Cup only shows the ’moral bankruptcy' of the United States, which even fears the presence of eleven young Iranians on the playing field.”

Under FIFA rules, the world soccer governing body has “sole discretion” over who replaces a team if it is unable to take part in a tournament.

In May 1992, only weeks before the start of the European soccer championships, Yugoslavia was forbidden from entering after the imposition of U.N. sanctions on Belgrade. It was replaced by Denmark, which went on to win the tournament.

A record 48 teams are taking part in this year’s World Cup, which will be attended by hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world and feature 104 matches across the three hosting nations.

Cliff Stott, a professor of social psychology at Keele University in England and an expert on crowd behavior and public order, told The Epoch Times in December that the handling of World Cup fans will be a big security challenge for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Iranian fans from Iran will not be allowed to apply for visas to the United States after Iran was added to a list of banned countries under a presidential executive order in June 2025, but the team may receive some support from the Iranian diaspora.

“Any time you have big gatherings and people from all over the world, nefarious people can slip through,” Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told The Epoch Times in December.

The Epoch Times reached out to FIFA and the White House press office for comment but did not receive a response.