Italian sports minister dismisses plan for Azzurri to replace Iran at 2026 World Cup

Lead

Italian government and sports officials have firmly rejected a proposal that four-time World Cup champion Italy take Iran’s place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, after a U.S. special envoy said he suggested the swap to President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi said the idea was neither possible nor appropriate, stressing that teams qualify on the pitch, while Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti described the suggestion as shameful. FIFA has reiterated that Iran is expected to take part, and Iranian officials have said the national team is preparing to compete.

According to reporting first carried by the Financial Times and widely relayed by international outlets including Reuters, Africa News, Al Jazeera, Dawn, the Guardian, the Jerusalem Post, the South China Morning Post and TASS, Paolo Zampolli, an Italian-American serving as U.S. special envoy for global partnerships, confirmed he had put the idea to Trump and Infantino. Zampolli told the Financial Times it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a U.S.-hosted tournament and argued that Italy’s four titles gave it the pedigree to justify inclusion. He later told the Associated Press the request was not political and was framed as a contingency if Iran could not participate at the last minute.

Coverage Comparison

Coverage across the sampled outlets converged on the core sequence: Zampolli’s suggestion, Italy’s failure to qualify, the cool or hostile response from Italian officials, and FIFA’s position that Iran remains in the tournament. Reuters-based dispatches carried by Dawn, the Jerusalem Post and others emphasised that the White House, FIFA, the Italian Football Federation and Iran’s federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and noted Iranian statements that the team was preparing to participate. Africa News and Al Jazeera similarly foregrounded the envoy’s remarks and the reported diplomatic backdrop involving ties between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The Guardian’s reporting focused heavily on the Italian rejection, quoting Abodi at length and placing the episode in the context of Italy’s third successive absence from the World Cup, including the resignations of federation president Gabriele Gravina and national team manager Gennaro Gattuso. ABC Australia’s account, drawing on Associated Press material, highlighted additional Italian voices such as Olympic Committee President Luciano Buonfiglio and recorded Trump’s initial public reaction when asked about Iranian players and the proposal. TASS emphasised procedural limits on any unilateral change to the field and quoted former FIFA vice-president Vyacheslav Koloskov arguing that decisions rest with FIFA’s organising structures and, in the event of an Asian withdrawal, would involve the Asian Football Confederation.

Outlets differed in the weight given to the reported motive of repairing U.S.-Italian political relations after a rift linked to Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV over the Iran conflict; several described that rationale as reported by the Financial Times citing people familiar with the matter, while others centred more on sporting qualification rules and Iran’s own statements. Single-outlet or more limited details—such as specific group-stage venues, the 48-team format and the identity of a potential Asian replacement—appeared in some reports but not uniformly across all extracts.

Key Claims

• U.S. special envoy Paolo Zampolli said he suggested to President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the 2026 World Cup, a claim reported across multiple outlets citing the Financial Times and Zampolli’s own confirmation.
• Reporting carried by several sources described the proposal as an effort to repair ties between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after a falling-out linked to Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV regarding the Iran war; that causal framing has medium confidence and is attributed to people familiar with the matter.
• Italy failed to qualify after losing a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a playoff final and will miss a third consecutive World Cup; Italy is a four-time champion. These points are widely reported.
• Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi said: “Firstly, it is not possible, secondly it is not appropriate… You qualify on the pitch.” Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti called the suggestion “shameful.” Italian Olympic Committee President Luciano Buonfiglio said he would feel offended and that a place must be earned. These quotes appear in multiple reports.
• FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said the Iranian team is coming and that sport should be outside politics; FIFA has also indicated it will work to accommodate Iran. Multiple outlets carried these positions.
• The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19. Some reports state it will be the first 48-team tournament and will be staged in 16 cities.
• Iran qualified and was drawn in Group G with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand; its three group matches were scheduled in the United States, including an opener against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15 and further games linked to Inglewood, California, and Seattle. FIFA rejected a request to move those matches to Mexico, according to multiple accounts.
• Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said the team was fully prepared and that required measures had been taken. Other Iranian officials have at different times signalled caution over security, discussed possible non-participation, or said no final decision had been made while talks with FIFA continued; AFC Secretary General Windsor John said in mid-March that Iran had not officially refused.
• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said nothing from the United States had told Iranian players they could not come, while adding that individuals with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps might not be admitted. Trump was quoted in some reports as saying he would give the Italy idea some thought or that it was “of interest.”
• The Iranian embassy in Rome condemned Zampolli’s suggestion on social media, calling it evidence of U.S. “moral bankruptcy” and stating that Italy earned its football standing on the pitch.
• Multiple reports note that if Iran withdrew, the United Arab Emirates would be a likely replacement as the highest-ranked non-qualified Asian side, and that FIFA has authority under World Cup regulations to call up a replacement nation. The White House did not respond to some comment requests.
• Several sources report that a U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran began on February 28, after which Iran’s participation became the subject of intense speculation because its group games are sited in the United States.

Perspectives

From the Italian official standpoint, qualification is a sporting matter decided on the field. Abodi, Giorgetti and Buonfiglio’s comments, reported by Reuters, the Guardian, ABC Australia and others, frame any political fast-track as both impractical under the rules and damaging to the integrity of the competition. Italian media coverage, as summarised in some dispatches, treated the story with limited prominence and noted that similar ideas had surfaced before, while fans were described as reacting with embarrassment or indifference.

The U.S. envoy’s perspective, as stated by Zampolli to the Financial Times and the Associated Press, presents the suggestion as a personal and contingency-minded initiative rooted in his Italian heritage and a desire to see a historic football nation at a North American World Cup, rather than as a formal government demand. Trump’s brief public remarks, where reported, left the notion open without committing to it. Rubio’s comments separated the athletes from security concerns about accompanying personnel linked to the IRGC.

FIFA’s publicly restated position, cited across outlets, is that Iran is expected to participate and that sport should remain outside politics, with Infantino having visited Iranian preparations and affirmed the scheduled venues. Procedural voices, including commentary relayed by TASS, stress that withdrawals are handled through established FIFA and confederation mechanisms rather than host-nation political preference, and that an Asian vacancy would logically be addressed within Asia’s qualification pathway.

Iranian official messaging, as reported, has varied over time between readiness to play, conditions tied to safety and venue location, and confirmation that no formal withdrawal has been lodged. The embassy statement in Rome rejected the premise of a politically arranged Italian substitution. Broader context reported by multiple organisations includes the armed conflict that began in late February and the practical difficulty of staging Iran’s group matches in the United States, alongside FIFA’s refusal to relocate those fixtures to Mexico.

Taken together, the available reporting shows a widely sourced rejection by Italian authorities of an envoy-level suggestion that has not been adopted by FIFA, while Iran continues to be described by the world governing body and by recent Iranian government statements as a participant preparing for the tournament.