In little over 100 days, the United States will co-host a football World Cup that Iran have qualified for.
On Saturday, the US attacked Iran as part of a joint operation with Israel, sparking retaliatory strikes across the Middle East.
So what could the conflict mean for Iran, for Fifa, and for what was already set to be a highly politicised World Cup?
Will Iran still play at the World Cup?
Iran’s group matches in what would be their fourth consecutive World Cup are against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, then Egypt in Seattle.
The team were not withdrawn from the competition last summer when the US bombed three nuclear facilities in the country, but the head of its football federation has now reportedly cast doubt on their participation.
“With what happened… and with that attack by the United States, it is unlikely that we can look forward to the World Cup, but the sports chiefs are the ones who must decide on that,” Mehdi Taj is reported to have told Iranian television., external
But in the aftermath of the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and amid huge uncertainty over the future political landscape in the country, predicting such a decision – or even who would make it – is impossible.
“For Tehran, this is not a short 12-day war or a contained round of escalation that can be paused and reset,” said Dr Sanam Vakil – director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at international affairs think-tank Chatham House.
“This new stage of conflict is existential and clearly about regime survival. It is also unlikely to end quickly.”
Fifa – football’s world governing body – has said it is monitoring developments but, at this stage, officials are privately saying they expect Iran to be at the World Cup. On Saturday, Fifa’s general secretary Mattias Grafstrom said “our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating”.
BBC Sport has asked Fifa what it would do if Iran were to boycott the tournament amid suggestions they could be replaced with an alternative team from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
On that basis, Iraq, who could qualify anyway via a continental play-off at the end of the month, or the UAE, who missed out on qualification, would be favourites to step in.
Iran’s women’s team, meanwhile, are preparing for their first match of the Asia Cup in Australia, with the squad training as planned on the Gold Coast on Sunday.
The AFC said in a statement that it continued to “closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period…we are in close and regular contact with the Iran women’s national team and officials on the Gold Coast and are offering our full support and assistance.”
At a pre-match news conference on Sunday, Iran coach Marziyeh Jafari stuck to football, saying the tournament was a chance to show “the potential of Iranian women”.
Iran’s men’s football team celebrated qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after a draw with Uzbekistan in March
