{"id":27573,"date":"2026-03-03T12:52:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=27573"},"modified":"2026-03-03T12:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:58:18","slug":"middle-east-tensions-cast-shadow-over-2026-fifa-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/middle-east-tensions-cast-shadow-over-2026-fifa-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East tensions cast shadow over 2026 FIFA World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Escalating tensions in the Middle East have plunged 2026 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup in the United States (US) into uncharted territory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Iran faces the unprecedented challenge of playing matches on US soil, despite coming under attack from the country&#8217;s military<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Last year, Iran secured their spot at a fourth successive World Cup by topping Group A in the Asian qualifying and in December&#8217;s draw, they were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand, with all three Group G matches scheduled for US venues, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">But against this volatile backdrop, Iran&#8217;s fixtures with Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand mark the first time in tournament history that a team competes on the soil of a nation it is effectively at war with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">A Middle East researcher at the Rice University in Houston, Texas, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, says he doubts whether Iran can participate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;Well, at the moment, it&#8217;s difficult to see how Iran can take part in the World Cup just because the situation in Iran is, so fluid and the country is under attack. We simply don&#8217;t know. All sporting events in Iran will have been cancelled, I think, at this point, until at least further notice. And of course, as I said, we haven&#8217;t seen a situation where a host is effectively at war with a participant.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The geopolitical turmoil will also have an effect on other supporters trying to enter the US for the World Cup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21350,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,20],"class_list":["post-27573","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"FIFA World Cup","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27574,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27573\/revisions\/27574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=27573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}