Maybe FIFA and the US administration have got rid of the dilemma of Iran-Egypt playing in Seattle on LGTBQ+ Pride Weekend.
Don’t tell me that was the reason for the bombing! 
FIFA Peace Prize, fuck you!
I just watched the Foxboro Select Board basically tell Boston26 to get stuffed if they aren’t funding security up front. I think the odds of it not happening in Foxboro are becoming meaningful.
What will happen with if Iran’s national team will not, can not, or is denied permission to be in the U.S. in 3 months? is there any rules for that case? will their games be forfeit and the opponent deemed to have won 3-0 (as I understand is done when a game is forfeit)? will their place be taken by some other team? (may be some team that had no luck in the play-offs?)
From what I have read, it’s this. They have a procedure for determining the “next best” team who just missed the cut.
There is a precedent. Remember Denmark 1992? They had missed the cut for the European Championship and were already enjoying their holiday at the beach. And then:
Originally, Yugoslavia qualified for the final stage and were about to participate as FR Yugoslavia, but due to the Yugoslav Wars, the team was disqualified and Denmark, as the runners-up from Yugoslavia’s qualifying group, was invited to take part instead.
Funnily, they ended up winning the tournament 2:0 against Germany, disproving the common wisdom that teams have to “concentrate” in carefully chosen secluded locations, eat sensibly, drink no alcohol for weeks, go to bed early without their wives and so on (you know the myths) to be successful.
Having Hendrik Larsson, Brian Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel on your team is better.
Something similar will be foreseen in this case, I am sure. And whoever is invited will gladly attend.
Yes, and that would be Iraq, which is only slightly less awkward than Iran. UAE could also take it in a specific set of circumstances that I’m not knowledgeable enough in football to understand or elaborate on.
You made me google it:
For those unwilling to click, it starts:
FIFA has quietly prepared Uzbekistan and Iraq as the two standby nations to replace Iran in the 2026 FIFA World Cup if the Iranian team officially withdraws due to the ongoing conflict with the United States.
According to highly placed sources within FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the governing body has already informed both federations to remain on high alert and keep their squads ready.
This comes after Iran’s Football Federation threatened to pull out following US airstrikes and the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Oh I see so many ways this could be milked by a corrupt regime! And I don’t even mean FIFA, go figure!
I still don’t understand what the rationale is for Iran to stay out. The USA is still a pretty safe nation for hosting. Is it just an act of protest? I can’t see why the Iranian team couldn’t physically show up and play. The US wouldn’t ban their flight from coming in, for all of Trump’s bluster.
Wouldn’t Iran playing be good for Iranian morale?
Going and playing in the country that’s bombing your country and killing your children, you don’t see why they might not want to?
I get that, but if Iran were to pull off a deep run in the knockout stage in the country that’s bombing them, that would be a big middle-finger statement.
By pulling out, they simply deprive Iranian fans of being able to see their team in the world’s biggest tournament held only once every four years, after having earned that spot via a grueling qualification campaign. It seems like an own-goal.
Unlikely. It would be interesting though if they played in LA to a rousing standing ovation.
Uzbekistan have already qualified a long time ago. FIFA are too busy humouring the big manchild to take notice of their own competitions
Neymar isn’t in the squad for the run-up of pre-WC friendlies. I find myself both surprised and not surprised.
Neymar left out of Brazil squad for World Cup warm-ups | Reuters
And Italy fails to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time, poor Italians 
That’s a shocker! A real shocker. Ok, Germany failing twice in a row at the group stage was a shocker, but Germany three times not to qualify for the WC? Unthinkable! And that’s exactly what happened to Italy, a football nation as big as Germany. I feel for the tifosi.
I would seriously put the members of the team, specially those who failed the penalties (FAILED, not stopped, failed!) in a suicide watch, or at least under counseling.
Failing to qualify against a minor team, and failing your penalties…
Carlos Salvador Bilardo told his players to put two things in their suitcases when they went to Mexico: a suit and a white tunic.
The suit in case they won the World Cup, the tunic in case they went out at the group stage and had to exile themselves to Saudi Arabia.
Infantino: “Fine, fine. 64 teams next time.”
Italy: Loses against Epstein Island and fails to qualify again.
I understand. But you know what? I feel Schadenfreude. As a Spaniard, they are part of the enemy for historical reasons.
And if that ever happens to Germany, I will feel similar. Sorry, I know you don’t agree, but you know why I have this stance, don’t you? I have written about that often.