March 03, New Delhi — Iraq or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could replace Iran in the FIFA World Cup, which begins in June.
Iran's participation in the prestigious tournament remains in doubt amid escalating conflict in West Asia.
Iran has been drawn into Group-G and is scheduled to play in California, USA, against New Zealand on June 15th and Belgium on June 21st, before concluding their group stage against Egypt in Seattle on June 26th.
The USA is hosting the tournament, along with Canada and Mexico, from June 11th to July 19th.
Iraq and the UAE effectively qualified as the ninth and tenth-ranked Asian teams through various qualifying groups and advanced to a two-leg playoff last November.