FIFA President Gianni Infantino has issued a definitive confirmation that Iran will compete in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, pushing back against growing speculation that the nation’s participation would be derailed by ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East. Speaking Wednesday at an economic conference hosted by business broadcaster CNBC in Washington D.C., Infantino left no room for ambiguity about Iran’s spot in the global tournament. “Iran is coming for sure. We hope that by then the situation will be a peaceful situation, that would definitely help,” Infantino told attendees.
In justifying the governing body’s position, Infantino emphasized that national teams represent their civilian populations rather than political leadership, noting that the Iranian squad earned their qualification through standard tournament pathways and that the players themselves have expressed overwhelming desire to compete. This stance marks a repetition of commitments Infantino made back in March, when he appeared in person at an Iran-Costa Rica friendly match held in Antalya, Turkey. That appearance came even after former U.S. President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether Iranian athletes would be able to compete safely on U.S. soil during the tournament.
The 2026 World Cup, a historic edition as the first to expand to 48 participating teams, is co-hosted by three North American nations: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Iran was drawn into Group G, with all three of its scheduled group-stage matches set to take place across U.S. venues — two contests in Los Angeles, one in Seattle — with the team planning to base its training camp in Tucson, Arizona. Iran’s participation has faced uncertainty since large-scale conflict broke out across the Middle East involving the U.S., Israel and Iran in late February.
Initially, Iranian officials raised the possibility of a full boycott of the tournament, before formally requesting FIFA relocate its U.S.-hosted matches to Mexico, a petition that global soccer’s governing body rejected outright. After weeks of cross-border air strikes and Iranian retaliatory attacks targeting Israel and regional partners, a fragile ceasefire took effect on April 8. Tensions remain high, however: Tehran has restricted access to the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, and since Monday the U.S. has enforced a full naval blockade on all vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports.
Sticking to FIFA’s long-standing position that sport should remain separate from political tensions, Infantino reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to using soccer as a unifying force. “If there’s nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, we are doing the job,” he said. The 2026 World Cup is scheduled to kick off on June 11, bringing 48 teams together across 16 host cities in the three co-host nations.