SEOUL, South Korea — After six members of the Iranian women’s soccer team defected on a recent trip to Australia, Tehran says its men’s team will not take part in the upcoming World Cup in the United States.
The Iranian female players were central to a saga that has gripped Australia and sports fans around the world. Its foreground was the pitch, its backdrop the high-intensity conflict currently pitting Iran against an alliance of Israel and the United States.
Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali announced Wednesday that Iran will skip the World Cup hosted by Canada, Mexico and the U.S. beginning in June this year.
“Under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” he told state media in an announcement picked up by wire agencies.
Team Iran qualified for the world’s largest sporting event in March 2025 and was set to play in Los Angeles and Seattle this summer.
On Tuesday, President Trump told the head of soccer’s global governing body that Iran’s athletes were welcome in the U.S.
The Iranian women’s team arrived in Australia to participate in the Asia Football Confederation Asian Women’s Cup 2026 just prior to the aerial campaign unleashed on Iran by Israel and the U.S. on Feb. 28.
Ahead of their first match against South Korea on March 2, the players on the pitch declined to sing Iran’s national anthem.
An Iranian state TV presenter dubbed them “wartime traitors,” and they sang ahead of their subsequent two matches. However, their March 2 action had been widely noted both by Australian and international audiences, raising serious concerns about the retaliation the protesting players could face once they returned home
Australian activists, including citizens of Iranian heritage who had supported them with Iranian opposition flags at matches, gathered around their team bus, and massed again at the airport, in shows of solidarity.
On Truth Social, Mr. Trump suggested Canberra should offer asylum to the women, adding, “The U.S. will take them if you won’t.”
Australian officials approached team members at their hotel. Six players and one official reportedly accepted humanitarian visas granting permanent stays.
All team members were approached again at Sydney Airport on Tuesday just as they were about to fly out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The offers of sanctuary came after the Iranian team’s government minders had already passed through security. Australian officials confirmed with each player that they wished to remain in Australia.
Seven individuals originally accepted the Australian offer, but one player changed her mind and was taken in by the Iranian Embassy.
The remaining defectors were swiftly moved from their safe house to a second location.
Tony Burke, minister for Home Affairs said, regarding the player who had shifted stance, “In Australia, people are able to change their mind, they are able to travel.”
Earlier, on Tuesday, Mehdi Taj, head of the Iran Football Association, claimed the female players had been abducted.
Referring to Mr. Trump’s intervention, Mr. Taj said: “How can we remain optimistic about a World Cup hosted by the U.S.? If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send a national team there?”
Concerns have been raised in some quarters over risks teams and fans travelling to the World Cup tournament could face from drug violence in Mexico and from American immigration agents in the U.S.
The Australian defections are not the first by Iranian female athletes.
Kimia Alizadeh became a household name across her country when she won the first Olympic medal captured by an Iranian female at the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016.
But the Taekwondo bronze medalist defected in 2020, claiming prejudicial treatment from Iranian officialdom.
