Donald Trump’s envoy proposed replacing Iran with Italy at the 2026 World Cup and FIFA basically laughed him out of the room

Donald Trump’s envoy Paolo Zampolli confirmed on Tuesday that he personally proposed to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and to Trump himself that Italy replace Iran at the 2026 World Cup, and you need to understand just how audacious that actually is.

Donald Trump’s proposal for the Italy-for-Iran swap is every bit as brazen as it sounds:

A top envoy to Donald Trump suggested the swap to Fifa president Gianni Infantino and the US president, as leader of the country co-hosting the tournament, arguing that Italy’s four World Cup titles in the tournament's history justify awarding it the slot. https://t.co/yWT7LQrbNG pic.twitter.com/Dcj8ohrOfs

— Financial Times (@FT) April 22, 2026

Italy has not qualified for a World Cup since 2014. They missed Russia in 2018. They missed Qatar in 2022. They just lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties in the European playoff final, which prompted manager Gennaro Gattuso to resign on the spot. Three consecutive misses. The Azzurri are, at this exact moment in time, one of the more historically embarrassing national programs in world football.

And Zampolli’s pitch to fix that? Just give them Iran’s spot because they’ve won four World Cups. The last of which was in 2006 (admittedly one of the greatest days of my life).

I’ll admit, when I first saw this headline, I thought it said replace Iran with Italy just in general. While intriguing, the logistics had me stumped. But I digress.

The stated reasoning for this maneuver is that it would help repair relations between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. So we are officially in the business of handing out World Cup berths as diplomatic favors. Incredible.

We’ve moved past trade deals and summits right where Trump works best: quid pro quos that are so obvious you almost have to respect them. Is it crazy? Absolutely. But it was so crazy it just might have worked. That was until FIFA essentially told him to eff off.

Now, in Zampolli’s defense, the Iran situation is genuinely off the rails. Iran’s sports minister has said they have ‘no possibility’ of participating after the U.S.-Israel war against the country. FIFA is playing dumb, insisting there is ‘only plan A’ and that Iran is coming.

Trump previously told Iran’s players they were welcome at the World Cup while also suggesting, on the same week, that they should stay home for their ‘own life and safety.’ Yeah, a lot is going on here. So much that even I’m having trouble following along.

But if Iran does withdraw, FIFA’s own regulations point pretty clearly toward an Asian confederation replacement, most likely Iraq or the UAE. Not Italy.

Definitely not a team from a completely different continent that just choked away their qualifying playoff on penalties. The Italian Sports Minister himself basically said the same thing, calling the scenario ‘highly unlikely’ and adding that he ‘wouldn’t even hope for it.’ I yearn for the Italian national team’s return to prominence, but, quite frankly, I can think of plenty of teams more deserving of a spot.

FIFA is going to do what FIFA does, which is whatever Infantino decides after his next dinner with a head of state. But right now, Italy replacing Iran at the 2026 World Cup remains a long shot.

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