A further six countries could be blocked from playing at the 2026 World Cup after being included in Donald Trump’s proposed travel ban list.
The World Cup is set to take place across the US, Mexico and Canada from June to July next year.
The three host nations, plus Japan and New Zealand, are five of the teams who have officially secured their places at the tournament.
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Meanwhile, big hitters such as Brazil, Argentina, England, Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands recently began their qualifying campaigns during the March international break.
However, several less glamorous footballing nations – including one team who have already qualified - could be blocked from making an appearance at the tournament due to recent travel restrictions proposed by Trump, 78.
As reported by the New York Times on March 14, the Trump administration is considering targeting citizens of as many as 43 countries, meaning they could be banned from competing at the World Cup regardless of their qualification status.
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Iran has already qualified, but it could be placed on a banned list as the NY Times reported that the nation is on a draft list of proposed travel ban countries.
The list is broken down into three sections – red (all travel banned), orange (visas sharply restricted) and yellow (60 days to address concerns) – with the nation on the proposed red section.
Six other potential qualifiers could also suffer the feat with Sudan, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, DR Congo, and Venezuela all still able to qualify for next summer’s tournament. All six of the aforementioned nations feature on some part of the list with Venezuela, Sudan and Iran all on the red section.
How could this be resolved?
The course of action is still unclear, but as reported by beIN Sports talks between the US government and FIFA - football's governing body - have already begun in order to explore a potential resolution which would allow nations like Iran to travel freely to the US for the tournament despite the proposed travel restrictions.
Which other nations are on Trump's proposed travel ban list?
Full visa bans
- Afghanistan
- Bhutan
- Cuba
- Iran
- Libya
- North Korea
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Venezuela
Partial visa suspensions
- Belarus
- Eritrea (unranked by FIFA, having not played a game since January 2020)
- Haiti
- Laos
- Myanmar
- Pakistan
- Russia (currently suspended by FIFA)
- Sierra Leone
- South Sudan
- Turkmenistan
Countries recommended for partial suspension (countries have 60 days to address concerns)
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Chad
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Dominica
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gambia
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Republic of the Congo
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Vanuatu
- Zimbabwe
Luke Davies