Will Iran play in FIFA World Cup 2026 and what will happen to its training facility in the US?

Eighteen months of preparation hang in the balance at a multi-purpose sports complex in Tucson, where organizers say they are in daily contact with FIFA about hosting the Iranian national soccer team even as geopolitical unrest threatens to disrupt their World Cup plans.

Iran is scheduled to play its World Cup group stage matches on American soil – two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle – with Tucson’s sprawling Kino Sports Complex selected as the team’s training site for the June 11-July 19 tournament.

But those plans were thrown into doubt when the US-Israeli campaign against Iran began last weekend with attacks that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The campaign entered its sixth day on Thursday.

“We know there is a lot of geopolitical activity going on right now,” said Sarah Horvath, director of the Kino Sports Complex. Reuters. «That said, we are in daily contact with FIFA. Team Iran is still coming here, we look forward to receiving them.»

ECONOMIC DRIVER FOR THE AREA

Iran qualified for the fourth consecutive World Cup and were drawn into Group ⁠G along with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand.

Teams could choose which cities to use as training camps from a FIFA curated list and last month it was announced that Iran, ranked 20th in the world, had chosen the Kino Sports Complex.

Opened in 1998 and originally built as the home base for Major League Baseball Spring Training, the site spans more than 300 acres and features 22 soccer fields, including a professional soccer stadium. It is also home to USL League Two side FC Tucson.

“Having World Cup team training at our facility is a big economic driver for the area,” said Horvath, who added that the process to be officially selected as a base camp took 18 months.

She acknowledged there would be “a lot of heartache and an economic blow to Southern Arizona” if the training base were left unused, but expressed hope for a backup plan.

“If not (Iran), we are hopeful that we can get a team here.”

SAFETY MEASURES IDENTICAL FOR EACH TEAM

FIFA did not immediately respond when asked about the latest news on Iran’s World Cup status and whether another team would be assigned to the Tucson venue if they did not attend.

Horvath emphasized that safety measures would be identical for each team training at Kino and that they work with local and federal law enforcement partners.

Earlier this week, Iranian football chief Mehdi Taj indicated that US and Israeli attacks «did not bode well» for the World Cup, adding that senior government officials would evaluate the situation before deciding on any action.

In recent decades, there has not been a single case where a qualified team failed to participate in the World Cup finals. To preserve the full 48-team World Cup field, Iran would almost certainly be replaced if it withdrew from the tournament.

For now, Tucson waits — hopeful but uncertain — as global events far beyond his control determine whether months of preparation will culminate in welcoming a World Cup team, or whether he will rush to fill an unexpected void.

IRAN HOSTING A ‘CHALLENGING SITUATION’

Jon Pearlman, founder and president of FC Tucson, one of the community partners involved in the bidding process to turn Kino into a training base, struck an optimistic tone toward Iran.

«We are very optimistic that they will train here. We think it will happen,» he said, citing ongoing talks with Horvath and FIFA.

Still, Pearlman acknowledged that his group had always understood that hosting Iran would be a “challenging situation” given existing tensions.

His focus, he said, remains on what they can control: ensuring that each visiting team is safe and seen “in the best sense that they are here for sporting purposes, not for political purposes, to compete on the field and to honor all the people of their country.”

But not everyone is as confident that Iran will soon be at the complex to tighten its approach to the World Cup.

Lucas Gebremariam, owner of nearby Zerai’s International Bar, said that while he would welcome the Iranian team for meals at his establishment, he is still unsure whether it will arrive in Tucson.

“Honestly, it feels pretty certain they won’t come,” Gebremariam said. “I don’t have a lot of hope or optimism that they will ultimately come up with the political climate that it is now.”

Published on March 6, 2026