Iran's 10 conditions for the World Cup

What Iran is actually asking for

The specific wording of the 10 conditions hasn't been made public — the FFIRI hasn't published the list, and FIFA hasn't confirmed receipt or response. But the context writes a fair amount of the story itself. Iran and the United States have no diplomatic relations. Iranian passport holders face significant restrictions when attempting to enter the US. Players, staff, and officials travelling to matches in cities like New York, Los Angeles, or Seattle would be doing so in a country their government formally considers hostile — and which formally considers Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.

The conditions, whatever their precise language, almost certainly touch on visa guarantees for the full travelling party, security assurances, the right to fly Iranian flags and display national symbols without interference, and protections against any legal action or detention on US soil. These aren't unreasonable things for a national federation to ask. They're also not easy things for FIFA — or the US government — to simply sign off on.

FIFA's problem, not just Iran's

FIFA has been here before, in different forms. The organisation's standard line is that football sits above politics — a claim that gets harder to sustain the more politically complicated the host selection becomes. Awarding a co-hosted tournament to the United States was always going to create friction for nations with strained or severed ties to Washington. Iran is the most visible case, but it won't be the only one watching how this plays out.

FIFA has no authority over US immigration law. What it can do — and has done in previous tournaments — is negotiate with host governments for blanket sporting visas that apply to all participating nations regardless of bilateral relations. Whether the current US administration is willing to extend that kind of assurance to Iranian nationals is a separate political question entirely, and one that FIFA cannot answer alone.

FIFA has not publicly responded to the FFIRI's submission, per BBC Sport. That silence is doing a lot of work right now.

Is Iran actually going to pull out?

Almost certainly not — yet. This reads more like a negotiating posture than a withdrawal notice. Iran qualified for the 2026 World Cup and has appeared at the last four tournaments. Walking away from a World Cup is an enormous step, and no federation takes it lightly. The FFIRI putting its conditions in writing gives it leverage: it can point to the document if things go wrong, and it signals to its own government that it has formally raised the concerns.

The more realistic outcome is a prolonged back-channel process between FIFA, the three host associations, and the relevant governments — with Iran's participation eventually confirmed closer to the tournament, once enough assurances have been given in private.

FIFA has until June 2026 to make this work. That's not a lot of runway for a problem that involves two governments who haven't spoken directly in over four decades.

Iran submitted a list of conditions. FIFA has not yet said a word in reply. Make of that what you will.