Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran soccer federation, revealed that preparations for the nation’s participation at the 2026 World Cup remain underway despite promising to “boycott America,” one of the co-hosts of the competition.
The threat of Iran’s withdrawal from the World Cup emerged in the wake of U.S. and Israeli air strikes on the nation at the end of February. The following day, Taj warned: “We cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope.”
Iran’s minister of sport Ahmad Donyamali went one step further by declaring on March 11 that the national team could not participate at the World Cup “under any circumstance” following the death of the nation’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during one of the air strikes.
No official withdrawal has been issued to FIFA and Iran’s status remains riddled with uncertainty following a series of conflicting statements. U.S. president Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken about this delicate topic, warning that Iran’s presence would not be “appropriate” for “their own life and safety.”
“We will boycott America, but we will not boycott the World Cup.”Mehdi Taj, Iran soccer president.
Taj offered an attempt at clarity with a video released by the Iranian press agency Fars on Wednesday, as quoted by Reuters. “The national team is holding a training camp in Türkiye, and we will also play two friendly matches there,” he outlined.
All three of Iran’s group stage fixtures are scheduled to be held at U.S. venues. The Asian outfit is set to face New Zealand and Belgium at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California before flying north to take on Egypt at Lumen Field in Seattle. Mexico and Canada are also sharing hosting duties with the U.S. and the former has opened itself up as a potential alternative.
Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo recently revealed a willingness to host Iran’s fixtures. “Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with every country in the world,” she said, “therefore we will wait to see what FIFA decides.”
However, FIFA has shown a distinct unwillingness to sanction any schedule changes, pointedly noting that world soccer’s governing body “is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on Dec. 6, 2025.”
What Next for Iran’s World Cup Participation?
Predicting anything amid the uncertainty of an ongoing global conflict is a thankless task. Yet, there appears to be no willingness from any of the involved parties—Iran, the U.S. or FIFA—to take any official action just yet. Even seemingly definitive statements have been quickly undercut.
This back-and-forth is depicted as a “game of brinksmanship” by one source to The Guardian, with the supposed goal being one nation to force the blame of withdrawal upon the other.
In the event that Iran does participate this summer, the prospect for controversy will only increase each day the team is at the tournament. There is also the prospect of Iran coming up against the U.S. in a round of 32 tie staged in Dallas should they both finish as runners-up of their respective groups.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Iran Soccer Chief Defines Terms of 2026 World Cup ‘Boycott’.
