Italy sports minister rules out replacing Iran at World Cup: ‘Qualification done on the pitch’

SportFootballItaly sports minister rules out replacing Iran at World Cup: ‘Qualification done on the pitch’Italy missed out on World Cup qualification for a third successive tournament but have been mooted by Donald Trump’s envoy as a potential replacement for IranJamie Gardner Thursday 23 April 2026 16:37 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2963716","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/italy-iran-world-cup-2026-donald-trump-b2963716.html","title":"Italy sports minister rules out replacing Iran at World Cup"}}CloseJubilant scenes for Bosnia and Herzegovina after qualifying for the World CupInside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sportGet our free Inside Sport newsletterGet our free Inside Sport newsletterEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Inside_Sport_CDP","regTitle":"Inside Sport","subscriptionGroup":"inside_sport","subscriptionGroupId":"9cec95c5-a973-40ac-9b05-03d636c07853","type":"sport","pathPrefix":["/sport","/f1"],"associatedAuthors":["Lawrence Ostlere","Kieran Jackson"],"title":"Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Sport newsletter","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/InsideSport1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideSportNews","regSourceSection":"Football","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}Italy’s sports minister says it is “not appropriate” for the country to replace Iran at the World Cup, insisting: “Qualification is done on the pitch.”An envo...