Iranian soccer has had a good week on the difficult road to competing in a World Cup match in the United States in June.
The first face-to-face meeting with FIFA president Gianni Infantino since the United States and Israel began their war against Iran on February 28 marked a real breakthrough in soccer diplomacy at the end of a busy month.
The Iranian Football Federation’s upbeat statement about the meeting in Turkiye made no mention of moving the World Cup to Mexico, but Infantino has repeatedly remained mum on the subject over the past two weeks.
Infantino also provided concrete support to help the team prepare for the World Cup in the next two months. Most Iranian players play for clubs in the domestic league, which has been closed during the war.
Iran’s World Cup hosts in the U.S. state of Arizona this week reiterated the “stick to the schedule” mantra that FIFA has been using and announced that it is moving forward with local and federal security plans in addition to training camp upgrades.
Infantino remained in the Turkish coastal resort of Antalya to watch Iran defeat Costa Rica 5-0 in the preliminary game.
With mixed messages flying about America’s intentions for war, it is clear that the next two months will be filled with uncertainty for both the Iranian team and the country itself.
Still, talk of Iran boycotting soccer’s biggest event or moving games from Los Angeles or Seattle to Mexico has disappeared.
The Iranian delegation is scheduled to participate in a training camp in Tucson, Arizona, no later than June 10, in preparation for the June 11-July 19 tournament.
The war immediately cast doubt on Iran’s ability and desire to achieve World Cup qualification, which they achieved in March 2025 as one of Asia’s best teams.
In early March, government officials variously suggested that the team would not be able to compete in the World Cup, that it would not be able to travel to the United States, and that FIFA should reschedule Iran’s games to be co-hosted with Mexico.
A spokesperson for the Iranian Football Association did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Iran has not withdrawn its membership in FIFA.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum appeared to hint at the possibility of holding the Iran match without insisting on an unprecedented rescheduling of the World Cup.
US President Donald Trump added to the confusion with mixed messages. He said he “doesn’t care” if Iran takes part in the World Cup, and later said the players are not safe, apparently implying they are at risk of regime retaliation at home. He also promised to treat his players like stars.
FIFA is the most consistent commentator and Infantino is the only top soccer official to speak openly about the delicate diplomacy. That is, Iran will come to the United States, the schedule will not change, and formal negotiations regarding Mexico have never occurred and will never occur.
Iran is therefore scheduled to come to Arizona to begin preparations for their first game against New Zealand on June 15 at the Los Angeles Rams’ SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
The FIFA-mandated leave for players to return to their national teams has given World Cup teams up to nine days of action and two warm-up matches.
Iran was scheduled to travel to another World Cup team, Jordan, with Nigeria and Costa Rica invited as back-to-back opponents. As the war spread across the Middle East, the match was moved from the Jordanian capital Amman to the safety of Antalya in southern Turkiye.
For most Iranian players, last Friday’s 2-1 loss to Nigeria and Tuesday’s win against Costa Rica were their first matches since the Persian Gulf Professional League was cancelled.
Both Iran matches were played without fans in the stadium. In a similar warm-up before the 2022 World Cup, Iranian fans were barred from stadiums in Austria to avoid protests against the government shown on national television.
In Antalya, the Iranian team held up children’s backpacks and photos of war victims during the national anthem to protest the US-backed military offensive.
Star striker Sardar Azmoun was absent from the squad. The Dubai-based player was reportedly not selected because he posted a photo on social media greeting political leaders in the United Arab Emirates, at the behest of national authorities.
Ahead of Iran’s visit to Turkiye, FIFA declined to confirm details about which officials would travel to Turkiye for the best, and realistically the first, opportunity to meet Iranian federation leaders during the war.
Infantino landed on Tuesday morning. He spoke to a room full of players and coach Amir Galenoei, and also met privately with federation officials Mehdi Mohamed Nabi and Omid Jamali.
In a subsequent Instagram post, Infantino pledged FIFA’s support to give his team the “best possible conditions” for the World Cup.
Further details were revealed in a statement from the Iranian federation, which FIFA later confirmed was an accurate summary of Infantino’s various meetings.
According to the statement, Infantino promised that “if you need help, I will help you”, such as organizing a training camp in preparation for the World Cup. That could take place in Turkiye in the coming weeks.
Iran’s statement did not mention moving the match to Mexico, but Infantino has repeatedly said that is unlikely. He told Mexican broadcaster N+Univision over the weekend that there is no backup plan for Iran at the World Cup, only Plan A.
Iran’s 2026 World Cup Schedule to be held in the US
The World Cup draw was held in Trump’s presence on December 5, minutes after Infantino presented him with the first FIFA Peace Prize. The match venue was decided one day later. Several members of the Iranian delegation, including soccer federation president Mehdi Taj, were denied visas to enter the United States. That remains a key question heading into the World Cup.
Iran are scheduled to play New Zealand in Inglewood before returning there six days later to take on Group G top seed Belgium. Iran completed the group stage by playing against Egypt in Seattle on June 26th.
FIFA had the option of having Egypt and Iran play against each other in Vancouver, Canada, but chose to keep Iran in the United States.
FIFA had prepared approximately 200,000 tickets for these three games against Iran, and most of them were sold out. Changing the city to Mexico would mean that FIFA would have to compensate fans, broadcasters and sponsors who paid for flights and hotels in accordance with the official game schedule.
Iran chose the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona as their training base. World Cup rules require teams to enter the host country at least five days before the first match.
“Although there is no official update regarding Iran’s training plans at the Kino Sports Complex, we continue to prepare for the arrival of Team IR Iran,” camp director Sarah Hanna said in a statement.
