World Cup Drama: Trump tells FIFA Iran can compete in US

Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, said that Donald Trump confirmed that Iran’s national football team is welcome to play in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The tournament will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada in June and July.

Infantino said he met Trump to discuss preparations for the World Cup. During their discussion, Trump repeated that the Iranian team would be allowed to compete in the tournament. Infantino said the World Cup is an important event that can bring people together, especially during difficult times.

The situation is complicated because of the recent war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. On February 28, the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. In the first 12 days of the conflict, about 1,255 people were killed and more than 12,000 were injured in Iran. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at Israel, US military bases in the Middle East, and important infrastructure in the region.

Because of the war, there are doubts about whether Iran’s team will actually travel to the United States for the World Cup. Iran was the only country missing from a FIFA planning meeting for participating teams held in Atlanta last week, which increased questions about their participation.

Trump said he is not worried about Iran playing in the tournament and described Iran as a “very badly defeated country” in an interview with Politico.

If the United States refused to host Iran’s team, FIFA could remove the US as a host country. A similar situation happened when Indonesia refused to host Israel during the Under-20 World Cup. FIFA later moved that tournament to Argentina.

Mehdi Taj, the head of the Iranian Football Federation, questioned whether Iran should participate, saying it may not make sense to send the national team to the United States under the current conditions.

Another issue is that Iranian fans were banned from entering the United States under a travel ban announced by the Trump administration in December.

Iran’s World Cup group matches are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles for two games and in Seattle for one game. If both the United States and Iran finish second in their groups, they could face each other in an elimination match in Dallas on July 3.

Heimo Schirgi said FIFA is closely monitoring the situation but expects the tournament to continue as planned. He said the World Cup is too large to postpone and that FIFA hopes all qualified teams will be able to take part.