The 2026 World Cup, the first to feature 48 teams, will take place from June 11 to July 19
FIFA president Gianni Infantino guaranteed this Wednesday (15) that Iran will “without a doubt” compete in the 2026 World Cup. “Iran will come, without a doubt”, to the tournament that will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada, said Infantino during an event organized by the CNBC television channel in Washington. “We hope that at this point [o início da Copa, em 11 de junho]the situation is a peaceful situation, which would really help”, explained the leader.
“But Iran has to come, they represent their people, they qualified and the players want to play“, stated the FIFA president. The participation of the Asian team remains uncertain less than two months before the tournament due to the conflict in the Middle East, which began on February 28th.
In March, the president of the Iranian Federation, Mehdi Taj, said that the . “We will prepare for the World Cup. We will boycott the United States, but not the World Cup,” Taj declared in a video released by the Fars news agency.
The Iranian Football Federation revealed that it has started talks with FIFA about the possibility of transferring its matchesbut the entity that governs world football states that the tournament calendar will not be changed.
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said her country is prepared to host Iran’s group stage matches, if necessary, due to the conflict in the Middle East. “Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with all countries in the world, so we will wait and see what FIFA decides”, said the president.
*With information from AFP
