A special envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump has urged world football’s governing body FIFA to remove Iran from the 2026 World Cup and hand their spot to Italy, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Paolo Zampolli, an Italian-American businessman, socialite and former modelling agent who is widely credited with introducing Trump to his wife Melania, confirmed he had raised the idea directly with both Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Zampolli described the prospect of Italy featuring in the tournament as a “dream,” pointing to the four-time world champions’ pedigree as justification for an exceptional invitation despite the fact they failed to qualify.
Italy missed out on the World Cup for the third consecutive time after losing a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their qualifying playoff final last month.
The FT reported that Zampolli’s push is also partly motivated by a desire to repair the diplomatic relationship between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which soured after Meloni publicly criticised Trump’s military action against Iran and his conduct toward the newly elected Pope Leo XIV.
Iran’s place at the tournament, which is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, has been in question since the outbreak of war between the U.S., Israel and Iran on February 28. The Iranian football federation had been in talks with FIFA about relocating the country’s World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico.
However, FIFA President Infantino pushed back on that idea last month, telling reporters while attending Iran’s friendly against Costa Rica in Turkey that Iran would play at the World Cup and would do so in the venues assigned to them under the draw.
Whether FIFA will entertain Zampolli’s suggestion remains to be seen, but the proposal adds a new political dimension to an already complicated situation surrounding the tournament.
