FIFA Bans One Country from Competing in the 2026 World Cup
- The 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature an expanded format of 48 teams, up from the traditional 32
- It also marks the first time since 2002 that the tournament will be jointly hosted, with the United States, Canada, and Mexico sharing duties
- One nation remains ineligible to participate in the competition despite numerous suspensions during the qualifying stages
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One nation has now been officially ruled out of the 2026 World Cup, despite several suspensions already taking place during the qualifiers.
Throughout the campaign, a number of countries either faced temporary bans or withdrew from the process altogether.
In the African qualifiers, FIFA suspended the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) in February, citing a “particularly serious situation” involving undue influence.
Source: Getty Images
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) later cancelled all of Congo’s remaining fixtures, awarding their March clashes against Zambia and Tanzania as 3-0 walkover victories to the opposition.
Although FIFA lifted the ban in May, allowing Congo to take part in two of their last three qualifiers during the upcoming international break, the team has already been eliminated after losing all five of their matches so far.
Elsewhere in African qualifying, Eritrea withdrew before playing a single game, reportedly due to fears from the country’s totalitarian regime that players might seek asylum abroad.
The nation only returned to international football in May after over five years of absence, but remains the lowest-ranked FIFA side and will not feature in World Cup qualifying matches.
In Asia, Pakistan also faced suspension after FIFA ruled that its revised constitution failed to guarantee “truly fair and democratic elections,” though that ban has since been lifted, Sportbible reports.
Source: Getty Images
Which country has FIFA banned from 2026 World Cup?
The only nation still officially banned from the World Cup is Russia.
The European country was suspended by both UEFA and FIFA in February 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine and has yet to be reinstated for competitive football.
Since then, Russia has only played friendly matches against teams from around the world, with European nations refusing to face them, except for Belarus, which hosted a friendly in Minsk this past June.
FIFA said in a statement:
"Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
"These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively, the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters."
Belarus, meanwhile, has faced its own sanctions due to involvement in the war, including suspensions from several sports such as tennis and athletics, and exclusion from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Although UEFA has barred Belarus from hosting competitive international fixtures, they remain eligible for World Cup qualification and will stage all of their home qualifiers in Hungary, where they have been drawn in a group alongside Scotland, Denmark, and Greece.
FIFA may ban second country from international football
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that FIFA could soon hand out another major punishment in international football, with a second nation facing a ban following the governing body’s stance on Russia.
While the European country remains barred from official tournaments, they are still permitted to play international friendly matches.
Proofreading by Omoleye Omoruyi, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
