FIFA President Gianni Infantino has firmly dismissed speculation that Iran could be excluded from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, stating the team will compete as scheduled despite the ongoing military conflict involving the United States and Israel.
Infantino made the remarks on Tuesday during a friendly match in Turkey, speaking to a foreign media outlet. “Iran will be at the World Cup. That’s why we’re here,” he said.
The Iranian football federation had floated the idea of relocating the country’s World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico, citing safety concerns. Infantino ruled that out entirely.
“The matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw,” he said.
He also made clear FIFA has no contingency for Iran’s absence. “We want them to play; they will play in the World Cup and there no plans B, C, or D; it’s plan A,” Infantino told reporters. He acknowledged the situation is “very complicated” but said FIFA is working to guarantee the team competes under the “best possible security conditions.”
Iran played two friendlies in Turkey in the lead-up period, including a match against Nigeria in the town of Belek last Friday.
During that fixture, the players wore black armbands and posed with school rucksacks as the national anthem played, in tribute to the martyrs of a US-Israeli strike on a primary school in Iran.
The airstrike struck a primary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on February 28, martyring at least 170 people, among them students and teachers.
