Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Friday, April 24, 2026, 5:49 p.m. / Updated Friday, April 24, 2026, 6:13 p.m.
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State of USspoke about Iran's participation in the World Cup this summer. The Iranians would play all their group matches in America.
Rubio stated that there is no question of banning Iran's national team players from entering the country. But the people close to the footballers have a good chance of not being able to step onto the US territory.
Americans fear that members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may pose as journalists or personal trainers to enter the US.
Marco Rubio: “The problem in Iran is not represented by the athletes, but by the people they bring with them”
“No one from the United States told the team that they cannot come to the country. The problem in Iran is not represented by the athletes, but by the people they bring with them.
Some of them may have ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. We may deny entry to these people, not the athletes.
The Iranians cannot bring IRGC terrorists into our country. They could pretend to be journalists or players' personal trainers,” Rubio said, as quoted by The Athletic.
The US Secretary of State has said that the Iranians will not participate in the 2026 World Cup only if they decide to, and the Americans will allow them to play in the final tournament.
“They're not going to be here if they decide to,” Rubio said, according to the source.
Iran will only play in the USA in the World Cup groups
Despite the war between the US and Iran, which broke out in the very year of the World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that the Iranians will play their matches at the 2026 World Cup as planned. Iran asked to play in Mexico or Canada, but FIFA refused.
Iran will play New Zealand and Belgium at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, and in the third stage of the group it will go to Seattle for the duel with Egypt.
