Gianni Infantino, the boss of 2026 World Cup organisers Fifa, has confirmed that Iran will participate in the 2026 World Cup in June and July in the United States, Mexico and Canada despite the war in the Middle East involving Iran, the US and Israel.
"Iran is coming for sure," said Infantino during an economic conference organised by the American business news channel CNBC in Washington.
"We hope that by then [the summer] the situation will be a peaceful situation, that would definitely help.
"But Iran has to come," Infantino added. "They represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play."
Infantino expressed similar hopes in March when he attended a friendly match between Iran and Costa Rica in Antalya, Turkey.
His comments came despite US president Donald Trump's suggestion that Iranian players might not be safe in the United States.
Iran – who will be based in Tucson, Arizona – are scheduled to play their Group G matches in the US - two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
Their participation at the 2026 event has been thrown into doubt by the conflict launched by the US and Israel on 28 February.
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Iranian football chiefs hinted they might pull out of the competition before asking Fifa to move its matches from the US to Mexico. But Fifa rejected the request.
After several weeks of air strikes on Iran and Iranian reprisals against Israel and other countries in the region, a fragile truce came into effect on 8 April.
Iran has sealed off a key shipping route along the Strait of Hormuz and since Monday the US has imposed a blockade on ships coming from or heading to Iranian ports.
"Sports should be outside of politics," Infantino said during the conference.
"If there's nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, we [Fifa] are doing the job," he said.
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The 2026 World Cup, which starts on 11 June with a match between Mexico and South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, will be the first to boast 48 teams in its 96-year history.
The sides will be in 12 groups of four and play three games each during the pool stages.
The top two will advance automatically to the last-32 knockout stage along with the eight best third-placed sides.
Knockout matches will then be held for the last-16, the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
The final will take place at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on 19 July.
(With newswires)
