Windsor John, the general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), revealed on Monday that he expects Iran to participate at the 2026 World Cup despite previous statements to the contrary.
Iran’s involvement at the tournament has been thrown into disarray by the ongoing conflict with the United States, which will serve as one of the co-hosts for this summer’s World Cup. While U.S. president Donald Trump has offered welcomes and warnings in the same social media statements, Iran’s messaging has been similarly contradictory.
As the governing body which counts Iran among its members, the AFC tried to offer some clarity on the situation.
“They are our member. We want them to play,” general secretary John told assembled media at a press conference in Malaysia on Monday, as quoted by the Association Press. “As far as we know, Iran is playing.
“It’s a very emotional moment, everybody is saying a lot of things. At the end of the day, it’s the [Iran soccer] federation who should decide if they’re playing and, as for today, the federation ... has told us that they’re going to the World Cup.”
While the threat of replacements and punishments continue to loom over the national team amid a cloak of uncertainty, here’s what we know so far.
Timeline of Iran’s 2026 World Cup Participation
March 25, 2025: Iran qualify for the World Cup finals with a 2–2 draw against Uzbekistan.
Iran has become a fixture of men’s World Cups in recent years. The Middle Eastern nation qualified for just one of first 15 iterations of the competition before returning in 1998. Iran failed to make it out of the group on that occasion but it did record its first win in the competition’s history against none other than the U.S.
The nation’s qualification for the competition in 2026 had already threatened some diplomatic headaches after the potential of a travel ban to the U.S. for Iranian citizens was raised. Tensions soon escalated.
June 4, 2025: President Trump issues Iran travel ban
It was confirmed last June that no fans, and potentially no media representatives, from Iran would be able to secure visas to travel to the U.S. for the 2026 World Cup.
“If the U.S. government has issues with the Iranian regime for any reason, it should not result in discrimination against Iranian citizens,” Varzesh3’s Behnam Jafarzadeh wrote. “If someone hasn’t committed any illegal activity, why should they be punished? It’s not just about the World Cup—the policy needs to change in general.”
Nov. 28, 2025: Iran threaten to boycott World Cup draw
The consequences of this travel ban threatened to limit the number of Iranian delegates who would be able to attend the World Cup draw, which was hosted at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The Iran soccer federation’s spokesperson Amir Mehdi Alavi declared that these “unsportsmanlike” decisions would prevent any member of the delegation attending the ceremony.
Alavi also intriguingly dragged FIFA president Gianni Infantino into the controversy, claiming that the Swiss official had falsely promised to guarantee Iran’s travel arrangements for the draw upon its qualification.
Dec. 4, 2025: Iran row back on boycott
Iran’s representatives were belatedly granted a visa and so took their position at the frost-bitten Kennedy Center to watch a bizarre ceremony unfold.
Dec. 5, 2025: Iran drawn in World Cup group
There was a murky scenario which could have seen Iran drawn in the same group as the USMNT this summer. Diplomats across the globe breathed a sigh of relief when Iran was instead assigned to Group G, along with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand.
All three of Iran’s group-stage fixtures are scheduled for the U.S., with two trips to the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, before venturing north to Lumen Field in Seattle.
March 1, 2026: First signs of uncertainty emerge
Following the first air strikes on Iran launched by the U.S. military on Feb. 28, president of the Iran soccer federation Mehdi Taj warned: “We cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope.”
March 3, 2026: President Trump “really doesn’t care”
Trump’s first public statement on Iran’s participation in the tournament proved to be dismissive. “I really don’t care,” he said. “I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”
March 11, 2026: Infantino’s invitation shut down by Iran minister of sport
As the conflict continued, FIFA president Infantino tried to calm tensions with an Instagram post of the World Cup trophy in front of an American flag. The caption claimed that Trump “reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete” at the World Cup.
In response, Iran’s minister of sport Ahmad Donyamali declared that Iran 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.
March 12, 2026: Trump, Iran have social media back and forth
Shortly after Donyamali’s comments, Trump weighed into the debate on social media. “The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” he wrote.
On the same day, the official Instagram account of Iran’s soccer team posted a statement declaring: “No one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup.”
It continued: “The only country that could be excluded is one that merely carries the title of ‘host’ yet lacks the ability to provide security for the teams participating in this global event.”
To counter this thinly veiled questioning of the security measures put in place across the U.S., Trump posted another social media message: “It [the World Cup] will be the Greatest and Safest Sporting Event in American History. All Players, Officials, and Fans will be treated like the ‘STARS’ that they are!”
Trump’s pledge came the day after the Department of Homeland Security had informed all U.S. hosts cities that they would be entitled to their share of the $625 million worth of funding for match security which had been temporarily frozen.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Official Statement Adds Another Twist to Iran’s 2026 World Cup Participation.
