United States Withdraws from Under-17 World Cup in Qatar over Safety Concerns

The United States men's national team has pulled out of the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, with the tournament due to kick off in just over a week.

In a letter sent to players explaining the decision, the US Soccer Federation cited safety concerns for players and staff, referring them to the US State Department's travel advisory for Qatar, which encourages citizens to reconsider travel to the country due to the risk of armed conflict and asks government employees to obtain special authorization to do so.

The federation's letter said that, in light of current circumstances, it was no longer able to participate in the tournament. It said the wellbeing of players and staff would always be its top priority, and expressed appreciation to the players and shared disappointment about the circumstances.

A US Soccer spokesperson said the federation would not go into details about how it reached its decision. The Guardian understands that Fifa was informed of the decision on Wednesday.

Fifa's regulations for the Under-17 World Cups stipulate that qualified nations must participate in the tournament or be fined, with withdrawal within 30 days of the tournament's start resulting in a fine of 20,000 Swiss francs (about $24,000). Fifa has been approached for comment.

The ongoing situation in the Middle East, involving interconnected conflicts among multiple states, has already led to multiple cancellations of international sporting events. The 2027 Asian Cup, due to be held in Saudi Arabia in January 2027, was postponed by nearly a year due to the Houthi-Saudi conflict and the 2026 Iran war. More recently, Qatar pulled out of hosting rugby’s 2028 Nations Championship finals due to uncertainty around the conflicts.

Multiple missile strikes by the Houthis on Riyadh's international airport in October killed more than a dozen people and wounded hundreds. Later that month, US diplomats were told to leave Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Houthi attacks.

Qatar has been acting as a mediator in talks between the US and Iran aimed at ending their conflict, which started with US and Israeli attacks on Iran earlier this year. A tanker off the coast of Qatar was attacked in October amid the tensions.

The Under-17 World Cup is still due to begin on 19 November in Doha. The United States had been placed in Group J along with Montenegro, Algeria and Chile. The US roster that was due to compete contained no household names, but featured a number of promising young players in MLS and abroad.