March 11, (THEWILL) — FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has disclosed that US President, Donald Trump, personally guaranteed Iran’s national football team will be permitted to play on American soil at the 2026 World Cup, despite active military hostilities between Washington and Tehran.
Infantino made the announcement in an Instagram statement on Tuesday, following a meeting with Trump to review tournament preparations. The competition, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, opens on June 11 and is now 93 days away.
The confirmation followed weeks of doubt. US and Israeli airstrikes beginning in late February killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting Iranian missile and drone retaliation on American and Israeli targets. Iran’s football federation president Mehdi Taj said participation was “hard to look at with hope”, while Trump said he “really doesn’t care” whether Iran travelled, describing the country as “badly defeated”.
FIFA has not moved to exclude Iran or alter the schedule, framing the tournament as a moment of global unity. The governing body faced immediate criticism over perceived double standards, with observers questioning why the United States faces no sanctions while Russia was expelled from the 2022 World Cup. Infantino, who awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025, said the tournament was something the world “really, really needs”.
Iran, placed in Group G, will open their campaign against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in California on June 15. No response has come from Iranian football authorities or the government on whether the squad will travel.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
