An envoy to US President Donald Trump has asked world football’s governing body FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the World Cup, according to the Financial Times.

US special envoy Paolo Zampolli told the FT it would be a “dream” to see four-time World Cup winners Italy at the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada despite the fact they lost in a qualification playoff last month.

The suggestion was an effort to repair ties between Trump and Giorgia Meloni after the Italian prime minister fell out with the president after criticising his attack on Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war, the newspaper reported.

“I confirm I have suggested to Trump and (FIFA President Gianni) Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup. I’m an Italian native, and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion,” Zampolli told the FT.

Italy missed out on the World Cup for the third successive time after losing a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their qualifying playoff final.

Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been thrown into doubt by the war with the US and Israel that broke out on February 28.

The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) had said in April it was “negotiating” with FIFA to relocate the country’s World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico.

But Infantino told AFP last month, while attending Iran’s friendly against Costa Rica in Turkey, that Iran will be at the World Cup and that they will play “where they are supposed to be, according to the draw”.

Zampolli is an Italian-American socialite, businessman and former modelling agent who claims to have introduced Trump to his current wife, Melania Trump.

Barcelona are set to let five key players leave the club this summer, as they plan a squad overhaul, according to reports.

The Blaugrana are currently sitting nine points clear at the top of LaLiga, and are set to romp to a second consecutive title ahead of rivals Real Madrid.

However, after more disappointment in the Champions League, in which they were dumped out by Atletico Madrid, Hansi Flick and the board at Barcelona are preparing to rebuild their squad at the end of the campaign.

Spanish media outlet Marca are reporting that there are five players who have ‘completed a cycle at the club’ and will likely be moved on come the summer.

Marcus Rashford is one of those players. Barcelona can buy the 28-year-old, who is on loan from Manchester United, for £26million under the terms of the deal, but reports have emerged that they are not willing to exercise that option.

The 28-year-old has contributed 12 goals and 13 assists this season to help the Catalan giants run rampant in LaLiga, and as recently as last week, it was believed that Barca would like to keep him.

However, they have made a failed bid to renegotiate the £26m fee with United, who are refusing to budge on the clause which expires on June 15 – four days after the World Cup kicks off in North America.

It means there is a strong chance that Rashford will be forced to return to his boyhood club following England duty if he is selected for the tournament this summer.

Another attacker who seems set for the exit door is none other than Robert Lewandowski.

The Pole, who joined Barcelona from Bayern Munich in 2022, is out of contract in the summer, and there has been little indication that he will sign a new deal at the club.

It is believed that both Lewandowski’s ‘age and recent physical problems’ have thrust his future at Barca into doubt.

Barcelona are said to be looking at freeing up some financial legroom, and for that reason, they want to offload stars on big wage packets.

One of those players is Frenkie de Jong, who is understood to be on just under €400,000 (£348,000) per week, and Marca suggest that he could be sold to ‘ease the financial burden’ on the Spanish giants.

Former Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen and La Masia graduate Marc Casado are also said to be on the proverbial chopping block.

Christensen played 161 games in six seasons with the Blues before making the move to Catalonia in 2022 on a four-year deal. That deal is now set to expire, and there are no plans for an extension at this moment in time.

Casado, however, still has two years left on his contract, but due to a lack of minutes, could be forced to find a new club.

The defensive midfielder has failed to break into the team ahead of Pedri, Eric Garcia, and Gavi, and has started only one of the last eight LaLiga games.

A gunman killed a Canadian tourist and wounded six other people on Monday at Mexico’s famed Teotihuacan archaeological site, authorities said.

The gunman killed himself after opening fire at the heavily visited destination in central Mexico, home to pre-Aztecan pyramids, according to a security official.

The shooting occurred on the Pyramid of the Moon, a 45-meter (nearly 150-foot) high monument visitors are allowed to climb using steep steps carved of volcanic rock.

Six people were wounded by gunfire and taken to local hospitals, including a Canadian woman, a Colombian woman and child, a Brazilian and two Americans.

Seven other people were injured in the scramble for safety and were treated at the scene after the gunman — identified as Julio Cesar Jasso Ramirez of Mexico — opened fire.

The midday shooting stunned tourists at one of Mexico’s most visited pre-Hispanic sites, less than two months before the 2026 World Cup kicks off with games in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

AFPTV footage showed a body wrapped in a white sheet being walked down the steps of the pyramid.

State authorities at the scene seized a firearm, a knife and unused ammunition and evacuated tourists from the premises.

More than 2,000 years old, the pyramid city near Mexico City attracted over 1.8 million visitors in 2025, tourism officials said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand in a post on X called the attack “a horrific act of gun violence.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for a thorough investigation, and said she sent personnel to the site to provide assistance.

“What happened today in Teotihuacan deeply pains us,” Sheinbaum posted on X.

 ‘Send security’

Located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital Mexico City, Teotihuacan draws domestic and foreign tourists to see its pyramids and its Avenue of the Dead.

Federal security officials said police and the national guard were dispatched to the area following the attack.

Videos on social media showed the gunman firing periodic shots from a pistol about halfway up the Pyramid of the Moon while some tourists took cover behind stairs below and others fled.

“A person is opening fire on us, take care friends, send security,” a voice from one video, which AFP has not verified, can be heard saying.

Other videos show authorities examining the pyramid in a complex cordoned off with crime-scene tape.

Designated as a World Heritage site of “outstanding universal value” by the United Nations, the monuments at Teotihuacan were built in the pre-Hispanic Classic period — a golden age of Mesoamerican history — between the first and seventh centuries.

Mexico’s nearly 200 archaeological sites are popular with tourists, and although accidents have been reported, this is the first reported case of armed violence in decades.

While Mexico continues to struggle with frequent drug gang-related violence, untargeted mass shootings are relatively rare, especially compared to the country’s northern neighbor, the United States.

Mexico expects over 5.5 million visitors for the World Cup in June, when the popular football contest hosts national teams from around the world.

American tourist Anna Durmont, a 37-year-old art historian, told AFP she was walking towards the pyramid when she was startled by the sight of emergency vehicles and police.

“It actually felt extremely calm,” Durmont said, explaining she hadn’t heard gunfire.

“It was very measured. The park is full of souvenir sellers and they hadn’t left. It wasn’t clear to us until we got closer that there was a serious emergency,” she said.