FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said that Iran will "for sure" participate in the 2026 World Cup despite the US-Israeli war on Tehran.
"Iran is coming for sure. We hope that by then the situation will be a peaceful situation, that would definitely help," Infantino said on broadcaster CNBC.
"But Iran has to come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play," he said of the team's upcoming matches scheduled in the United States in June.
He said that "sports should be outside of politics."
"If there's nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, we are doing the job," he continued.
His comment came after Mexico confirmed that FIFA rejected Iran's request to move all of their matches to the US southern neighbour.
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Participation in doubt
Iran's participation in the global tournament had been thrown into doubt by the war with the United States and Israel that broke out on February 28.
Iran qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in March 2025 after a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan.
The World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, starts on June 11.
However, Iran is scheduled to play all its Group G games — including Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand — in the US.
According to the team's fixtures on FIFA's website, Iran is set to play New Zealand on June 15 at Los Angeles Stadium, Belgium on June 21 at the same venue, and Egypt on June 26 at Seattle Stadium.
