FIFA President Infantino confirms Iran will play World Cup matches in US despite war

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has dismissed all safety concerns and calls to relocate Iran’s World Cup matches.

Despite the ongoing war between Iran and U.S.-Israel alliance, he insisted that the Iranian national team will play its group-stage games in the United States as originally scheduled.

The announcement was made while talking at halftime of Iran’s friendly match against Costa Rica in Antalya, Turkey, on Tuesday, March 31.

He told AFP, “Iran will be at the World Cup. The matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw.”

The fact that he attended the warm-up match without announcing his presence came just weeks after the Iranian football federation announced its plan to “negotiate” with FIFA to shift its games to Mexico on security grounds.

The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, had already expressed Mexico’s willingness to host Iran in its first-round games.

Earlier, Infantino made a statement that Iran’s team should not travel to the tournament “for their own life and safety.”

Iran swiftly rejected Trump’s comments, stating that “no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup.”