Iran’s Men’s Football Team Said It Will Still Compete In The World Cup But Boycott The US For Bombing It
"We will boycott the United States, but we will not boycott the World Cup.”
Iran’s football team has said it will compete in the World Cup in summer but boycott the US as it is currently bombing it.
There were concerns about whether Iran would take part in the competition, which is being co-hosted by and held in the US, Canada and Mexico in July, after the US and Israel launched a joint unprovoked attack on Iran on Feb. 28.
Within 24 hours of the US-Israeli strikes, Iran's football federation said it had little hope the national team would play at the World Cup.
Iran's sports minister then said the team would "under no circumstances" participate due to the US-Israeli attacks that had "killed and martyred thousands" of Iranians.
"Given that this corrupt government assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup," the sports minister said.
On March 11, FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino said he had been assured by US President Donald Trump that the Iranian team would be able to participate in their matches hosted in the US despite the war.
But a day later on March 12, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that Iran should skip the World Cup for their “safety”.
Following his comments, Iran's embassy in Mexico said on March 17, that the country was negotiating with FIFA to move its matches from the US to Mexico.
FIFA released a statement the same day saying it is in regular contact with participating member associations including that of Iran and is looking forward to “all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on 6 December 2025.”
"We will be preparing for the World Cup. We will boycott the United States, but we will not boycott the World Cup,” the president of Iran’s football federation said on March 18.
The team has three group stage matches in the US.
When asked if Mexico was open to hosting the matches, Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said, "Yes. Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with every country in the world, therefore we will wait to see what FIFA decides,” according to ESPN.
Speaking on March 19, Infantino said that FIFA wants the World Cup to go ahead as scheduled.
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