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A map shown during the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw has been criticized by Ukraine as an “unacceptable error” after it appeared to exclude Crimea from being part of the country.
The chart – which shows countries that cannot be drawn to play each other for geopolitical reasons – highlighted Ukraine but did not include the peninsula internationally recognized to be part of it.
Crimea has been under Russian occupation since 2014 and only a handful of countries recognize the peninsula as Russian territory.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhy said the nation expects “a public apology.”
Writing in X, Tykhy said FIFA had not only “acted against international law” but had also “supported Russian propaganda, war crimes and the crime of aggression against Ukraine”.
He added a “fixed” version of the map to his post, highlighting Crimea as part of Ukrainian territory.
Among the countries that cannot play each other are Ukraine and Belarus, Spain and Gibraltar and Kosovo against Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia.
The Football Association of Ukraine has also sent a letter to FIFA Secretary General Mathias Grafström and UEFA Secretary General Theodore Theodoridis regarding the matter.
“We ask you to express our deep concern about the infographic map (shown) on December 13, 2024,” the letter reads.
“In view of a series of official decisions and resolutions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA executive committee since 2014… we emphasize that the current version of the cartographic image of Ukraine… is completely unacceptable and seems an inconsistent position by FIFA and UEFA”.
BBC News has contacted FIFA for comment.
The 2026 World Cup will begin on June 11 of that year in Mexico City and end on July 19 in New Jersey.
The expanded 48-team tournament will last a record 39 days.
Ukraine were drawn in Group D alongside Iceland, Azerbaijan and the yet-to-be-determined winners of France’s Nations League quarter-final against Croatia.
