Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj has stated that the country’s Men’s Football Team won’t travel to the United States of America to compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
He said this as the war between Iran and the United States continues to escalate forcing Iran’s participation in this year’s World Cup to come under serious scrutiny.
In relation to the sensitive issue, US President Donald Trump said he can’t guarantee the safety of Iranian players during the competition where Iran is scheduled to play two games in Inglewood with one game to be played in Seattle.
However, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) Iranian President Mehdi Taj indicated that Iran is willing to compete in the tournament but not in the US but in another World Cup co-host nation by stating,
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“When [US President Donald] Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America. We are negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran’s World Cup matches in Mexico.”
Iran is in Group G with New Zealand, Egypt and Belgium.
