FIFA President Infantino: Iran Will ‘For Sure’ Play at 2026 World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino

FIFA president Gianni Infantino says Iran will “for sure” play at the 2026 World Cup despite the war with the US and Israel, hoping for peace by summer.

FIFA President reaffirms that Iran will participate in summer's World Cup...

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran will “for sure” participate in the 2026 World Cup despite the Middle East war.

“Iran is coming for sure. We hope that by then the situation will be a peaceful situation, that would definitely help,” Infantino said on broadcaster CNBC.

“But Iran has to come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play,“ he said of the team's upcoming matches scheduled in the United States in June.

Despite the war, FIFA president Gianni Infantino insists "Iran will play in the World Cup, and Iran will play in the World Cup in the United States of America" in an interview with @maxwelltani.

Iran has all its group stage matches set in June, all in the US pic.twitter.com/DmvtwcP2I3

— Joseph Gedeon (@JGedeon1) April 15, 2026

 

Iran's participation in the global tournament had been thrown into doubt by the war with the United States and Israel that broke out on February 28.

“Sports should be outside of politics,” Infantino said.

“If there's nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, we are doing the job," he continued.