Iran makes World Cup progress in talks with Infantino as war clouds trip to US in June

Iranian football had a good week on its difficult path to playing World Cup matches in the United States in June.

A first face-to-face meeting with FIFA president Gianni Infantino since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28 saw real progress in football diplomacy at the end of a tense month.

The Iranian football federation’s optimistic reading of the meeting in Turkey made no mention of moving the World Cup matches to Mexico – a topic that Infantino has repeatedly silenced in the past two weeks.

Infantino also provided the team with tangible help as it prepares for the World Cup in the next two months. Most Iranian players play for national league clubs that were closed during the war.

Iran’s World Cup host in Arizona said this week it was continuing to improve training camps and local and federal security plans – echoing the «stick to schedule» mantra that FIFA has used.

Infantino stayed in the Turkish coastal city of Antalya to watch Iran beat Costa Rica 5-0 in a warm-up.

Clearly, the next two months will be full of uncertainty for the Iranian team and the nation itself, amid mixed messages about US intentions regarding the war.

Still, rumors that Iran would boycott football’s biggest event or move its matches from Los Angeles and Seattle to Mexico have faded.

The Iranian delegation must reach the training camp in Tucson by June 10 for the tournament from June 11 to July 19.

The war immediately cast doubt on Iran’s ability and willingness to compete in the World Cup in March 2025 as one of the top teams in Asia.

In the first half of March, government officials variously suggested that the team could not play in the World Cup, could not travel to the US, and that FIFA would have to move the matches from Iran to co-host Mexico.

A spokesperson for the Iranian Football Federation did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Iran has not withdrawn its membership of FIFA.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum appeared to suggest hosting matches in Iran was possible, without advocating an unprecedented late change to the World Cup schedule.

US President Donald Trump has added to the confusion. He repeatedly said, «I really don’t care» if Iran comes to the World Cup, that the players were not safe – he seemed to mean they were at risk of reprisals from the regime at home – and promised that they would be treated like stars.

FIFA has been the most consistent commentator, and Infantino the only top football official, to talk openly about the delicate diplomacy: that Iran will come to the US, that the schedule will not change and that no formal negotiations over Mexico have taken place or would take place.

Iran is therefore on track to come to Arizona and prepare for a first match on June 15 against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Rams Stadium in Inglewood.

FIFA’s mandatory break for clubs to release their players to national teams gave World Cup squads a maximum of nine days together and two warm-up matches.

Iran would go to Jordan, another World Cup team, where Nigeria and Costa Rica were invited as opponents in back-to-back matches. As the war spread across Western Asia, those games were moved from the Jordanian capital Amman to the safety of Antalya in southern Turkey.

For most Iranian players, a 2-1 defeat to Nigeria last Friday and victory against Costa Rica on Tuesday was their first competitive action since the Persian Gulf Pro League folded.

Both Iran matches were without fans in the stadium. In similar preparation before the 2022 World Cup, Iranian fans were locked out of a stadium in Austria, avoiding any anti-government protest during the broadcast at home.

In Antalya, the Iranian team protested the US-backed military attacks by holding up children’s backpacks and photos of war victims during the national anthems.

Star striker Sardar Azmoun was missing from the selection. He was reportedly not selected on the orders of state authorities due to a social media post by the Dubai-based player of a photo of him greeting political leaders of the United Arab Emirates.

Ahead of Iran’s trip to Turkey, FIFA declined to confirm details about which officials would go there for the best — and, realistically, first — chance to meet Iranian federation leaders during the war.

Infantino landed Tuesday morning. He spoke to a room full of players and coach Amir Ghalenoei, and had a private meeting with federation officials Mehdi Mohammed Nabi and Omid Jamali.

In a later Instagram post, Infantino pledged FIFA’s support to give the team «the best possible conditions» to prepare for the World Cup.

More details came in a readout from the Iranian federation, which FIFA later confirmed was an accurate summary of Infantino’s various meetings.

Infantino, the release said, promised that he was “at your service, and if you need help, I will provide it,” including by organizing a training camp ahead of the World Cup. That could be in Turkey in the coming weeks.

The Iranian statement made no reference to moving matches to Mexico, which Infantino has repeatedly said cannot happen. See also: SI9sidx. He told the Mexican broadcaster N+Univision this weekend there is no backup plan for Iran at the World Cup, only Plan A.

The World Cup draw took place on December 5 in Trump’s presence, minutes after Infantino awarded him the first FIFA peace prize. The locations for matches were confirmed a day later. Several members of the Iranian delegation, including federation president Mehdi Taj, were denied visas to enter the US. That remains an important problem in the run-up to the World Cup.

After playing New Zealand in Inglewood, Iran will return there six days later to play Belgium, the top seed from Group G. Iran completes its group in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.

FIFA had the option to pit Egypt versus Iran in Vancouver, but chose to keep Iran within the US

FIFA had a total of around 200,000 tickets available for those three Iran matches and most of them have been sold. Changing cities to Mexico would expose FIFA to compensating fans, broadcasters and sponsors who paid for flights and hotels according to the official match schedule.

Iran has chosen Arizona as its training base, at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson. World Cup rules require teams to enter the host country at least five days before the first match.

At the camp, director Sarah Hanna said in a statement: “There has been no official update on Iran’s plans to train at the Kino Sports Complex, and we continue to prepare for the arrival of Team IR Iran.”

Published on April 2, 2026