Iranian football has had a good week on its bumpy journey to play in the World Cup in the United States in June.
The first face-to-face meeting with FIFA president Gianni Infantino since the US and Israel went to war against Iran on February 28 brought real progress in football diplomacy at the end of a difficult month.
There was no mention of the positive news from the meeting in Turkey by the Iran Football Federation move the World Cup matches to Mexico – the Infantino item has been shutting down repeatedly in the last two weeks.
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Infantino also offered tangible help to the team in preparation for the World Cup in the next two months. Most of the Iranian players are in clubs of the national league, which was closed during the war.
Iran’s World Cup organizers in Arizona said this week they were continuing to upgrade training camps and local and federal security plans – in line with the “stick to the plan” mantra used by FIFA.
Infantino stayed in the Turkish coastal resort of Antalya to watch Iran beat Costa Rica 5-0 in a warm-up game.
Clearly, the next two months are fraught with uncertainty for the Iranian team and the nation itself amid mixed reports about US intentions for the war.
However, talk of Iran boycotting soccer’s biggest event or trying to move its games from Los Angeles and Seattle to Mexico has continued to fizzle out.
The Iranian delegation will arrive at a training camp in Tucson by June 10 for the June 11-July 19 tournament.
LOCAL IRANIAN FOOTBALL MONTH
The war immediately called into question Iran’s ability and willingness to fulfill its entry into the World Cup secured in March 2025 as one of the top teams in Asia.
In the first half of March, government officials variously suggested that the team could not play in the World Cup, could not travel to the US, and that FIFA should move Iran’s games to co-host Mexico.
A spokesman for the Iran Football Association did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Iran has not withdrawn its membership of FIFA.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum appeared to suggest hosting the Iran Games without advocating an unprecedented late change to the World Cup schedule.
US President Donald Trump also contributed to the confusion. He variously said “I really don’t care” if Iran comes to the World Cup, that the players are not safe – he seemed to mean they were at risk of regime reprisals at home – and promised they would be treated like stars.
FIFA has been the most consistent commentator, and Infantino, the only top soccer official, has spoken openly about delicate diplomacy: that Iran will come to the US, that the schedule will not change, and that no formal talks about Mexico have taken place or will take place.
Iran is therefore on track to arrive in Arizona and begin preparations for the first match on June 15 against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Rams Stadium in Inglewood.
THE BEST WEEK OF IRANIAN FOOTBALL
The FIFA-mandated break for clubs to release their players to national teams gave World Cup teams up to nine days together and two warm-up matches.
Iran were due to travel to Jordan, the other World Cup team, where Nigeria and Costa Rica were invited to face each other in head-to-head matches. As the war spread across the Middle East, these games were moved from the Jordanian capital of Amman to the safety of Antalya in southern Turkey.
For most of Iran’s players, last Friday’s 2-1 loss to Nigeria and Tuesday’s win against Costa Rica were their first competitive events since the Pro League was halted in the Persian Gulf.
In Antalya, the Iranian team protested the US-backed military strikes by holding up children’s backpacks and photos of war victims during the national anthems.
MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT OF FIFA
Ahead of Iran’s trip to Turkey, FIFA declined to confirm details of which officials would go there for the best – and realistically first – opportunity to meet with officials from Iran’s federations during the war.
Infantino landed on Tuesday morning. He spoke to a room full of players and coach Amir Ghalenoei and met privately with federation officials Mehdi Mohammed Nabi and Omid Jamali.
In a later post on Instagram, Infantino pledged FIFA’s support to give the team the “best possible conditions” to prepare for the World Cup.
Further details emerged in a report by the Iranian federation, which FIFA later confirmed was an accurate summary of Infantino’s various meetings.
PROGRAM OF THE IRANIAN WC
The World Cup draw took place on December 5 in Trump’s presence, minutes after Infantino presented him with the first FIFA Peace Prize. The venues for the games were confirmed a day later. Some of the Iranian delegation, including the president of the federation, Mehdi Taj, were denied visas to enter the US. This remains a key issue ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
After taking on New Zealand in Inglewood, Iran are scheduled to return six days later to face Belgium, the top seed in Group G. Iran will complete the group in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.
FIFA had the option of pitting Egypt against Iran in Vancouver, but chose to keep Iran in the US
FIFA had a total of about 200,000 tickets available for the three Iran matches and most of them have been sold. Changing the city to Mexico would expose FIFA to compensating fans, broadcasters and sponsors who paid for flights and hotels according to the official game schedule.
Iran chose Arizona as its training base, at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson. World Cup rules require teams to enter the host country at least five days before the first match.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
03 Apr 2026 0:56 IST
