Iran is trying to move its World Cup matches from the U.S. to fellow host nation Mexico amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
The Iranian embassy in Mexico posted a statement attributed to the president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj. The message says that because President Donald Trump said he cannot ensure the safety of the Iranian team, they will not travel to America, and are currently negotiating with FIFA to move matches to Mexico. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum also confirmed the talks.
But FIFA said it is still planning for the tournament to go ahead as scheduled.
“FIFA is in regular contact with all participating member associations, including IR Iran, to discuss planning for the FIFA World Cup 2026,” a spokesperson said. “FIFA is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on 6 December 2025.”
Iran is scheduled to play three matches in the U.S., two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle. If Iran and the U.S. both place second in their groups, they would face one another in the knockout round.
Iran’s place in the tournament has been in limbo since joint attacks on the country by the U.S. and Israel began on Feb. 28. Iran’s counterattacks have hit several nations sending teams to the World Cup including Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Last week, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the Iranian team is “welcome” to come to the tournament, “but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.” The team released a statement rebuking his message: “Certainly, no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup; 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.”
The U.S. is hosting the vast majority of the 104 matches in FIFA’s expanded World Cup. Canada and Mexico will each stage just 13 matches in the tournament. Only two teams are scheduled to play all three group stage matches in Mexico: the host nation and Korea. Even if Iran moved its group stage matches to Mexico, it would be difficult to avoid playing in the U.S. in later rounds.
FIFA has maintained that it wants Iran in the tournament. On the first day of the war, FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said the governing body’s “focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating.” The Iranian federation did not send staff to Atlanta for FIFA preparation meetings earlier this month.
Trump initially told Politico “I really don’t care” if Iran plays or not. FIFA chief Gianni Infantino posted last week that he had a meeting with Trump where the U.S. president “reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
Sports leaders in Iran have issued mixed messaging since the war began. Taj, the federation president, initially said that Iran “cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope” after the attacks. The country’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, said on state television last week: “Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup.” But the team’s statement condemning Trump seemed to walk back the sports minister’s declaration that Iran would be out of the tournament.
Another squad impacted by the war in the Middle East is Iraq. The team asked FIFA to delay its March 31 playoff in Mexico to qualify for one of the tournament’s final spots, as players and staff struggled with travel and visa issues amid the conflict. The president of the country’s soccer federation recently said the team will take a private plane to Mexico.
