Iranian football association unsure if national team will play at World Cup in US

• ‘We cannot look forward with hope,’ says FFIRI president

• England Lions match in Abu Dhabi cancelled due to war

The president of Iran’s football federation says he does not know if the national team can play World Cup matches in the US after the US and Israeli bombardment of the country.

“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj said to the sports portal Varzesh3 as Iran traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by the bombardment.