Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Friday, April 10, 2026, 11:36 p.m. / Updated Friday, April 10, 2026, 11:36 p.m.
FIFA has rejected a request to move Iran's national team's 2026 World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico, despite the outbreak of military conflict in the Middle East. This was confirmed on Friday by the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum.
On the last day of February, the United States of America, allied with Israel, launched a military attack on Iran. The state with its capital in Tehran retaliated by attacking several US military bases in the Middle East, in countries such as Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
FIFA rejected Iran's request to move matches to Mexico
“FIFA eventually ruled that matches could not be moved from their original venues“, said Claudia Sheinbaum during a press conference held on Friday.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino recently said that Iran will participate in the World Cup despite the tense situation: “Iran will play in the World Cup. There is no plan B, C or D, there is only plan A.”
According to the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, the national team is boycotting the United States of America, but not the World Cup.
Iran secured their fourth consecutive qualification to the final tournament of the World Cup in March 2025. The Iranians are scheduled to play two group matches against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles and against Egypt in Seattle. The team's training base is provided at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona.
A few weeks ago, when asked about the possibility of Iran not participating in this year's World Cup, Donald Trump replied: “I don't care at all!”.
“I think that Iran is a very hard-hit country. They are at the end of their powers,” added the president of the United States of America.
