Every nation to boycott the World Cup as Iran ‘unlikely’ to compete at USA 2026 | Football | Sport

Iran could be about to boycott the 2026 World Cup after tensions flared in the Middle East following a US-Israeli-sanctioned bombing campaign. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed during the airstrikes, with questions having surfaced about the nation’s participation in the upcoming World Cup.

Iran qualified top of their group in Asian qualifying, but reports coming out of the country in the wake of the recent attack are that they’re considering pulling out. It would cause a headache for FIFA’s bigwigs, not least because no qualified nation has ever boycotted the World Cup on political grounds.

That doesn’t mean to say countries haven’t pulled out of qualifying on political grounds, or even the main tournament for other reasons instead. With news that Iran could boycott the 2026 edition, Express Sport have picked out previous examples of countries pulling out of World Cup events because of political reasons.

Uruguay pull out of 1934 World Cup

Uruguay were reigning World Champions heading into the second edition of the tournament in 1934. However, despite earning an invitation, they withdrew in protest of several European teams travelling to South America for the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. The 1934 World Cup remains the only edition where the reigning champions didn’t compete.

Austria withdrew from 1938 World Cup following Anschluss

Austria were one of the favourites heading into the 1938 edition, but couldn’t take part as Nazi forces had annexed the country by the time the tournament rolled around. Some Austrian players joined the German team for the competition, but that didn’t include star man Matthias Sindelar, who refused to play for the Nazi-led nation.

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India pull out amid ‘barefoot’ claim

India have only qualified for one World Cup, but the Asian nation never got a chance to compete at it. That came in 1950 when withdrawals from qualifying saw India progress to the finals by default, but they decided against going to the tournament. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t because FIFA didn’t allow them to play barefoot (as India had done at the Olympics two years earlier), but rather because of travel costs, practice time, and team selection issues.

1966 World Cup featured no African teams whatsoever

The 1966 tournament is remembered fondly in England, but one thing that often goes unnoticed is the lack of African participants. That’s because teams from Africa didn’t enter themselves into qualifying in protest of FIFA’s decision to only award one combined spot for the African, Asian and Oceania confederations.

Ghost game sees Chile qualify for 1974 World Cup

The closest we’ve come to a qualified nation boycotting the World Cup finals on political grounds came in the intercontinental playoff between Chile and the Soviet Union in 1973. Heading into the second leg held in Santiago, the Soviet Union refused to participate in the contest in protest of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship. He had overthrown the socialist government, shifting Chile from a previous Soviet ally to an opponent. As a result, the Chilean players took to the field on their own, with captain Francisco Valdes scoring into an empty net before the match was ended.

In recent times, there have been very few boycott threats, but tensions did flare during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. All 32 qualified teams competed at the tournament, but there were protests from some players regarding alleged human rights abuses and the nation’s questionable LGBT record.

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