MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. The Iranian national football team will compete in the upcoming 2026 World Cup, the head of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, announced at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.

"Of course, Iran will participate in the World Cup," Infantino said. "The team will play in the US. The reason is simple: we need to unite so that people can be together. That is our responsibility. The world is united by football."

On April 22, Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali stated that the Iranian national football team might still participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup if the safety of the team was ensured, however, no final decision was made as of yet.

Minister Donyamali stated on March 11 that Iran would skip the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, on March 16, the Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Windsor John, announced that the Iranian side hadn’t officially refused to participate in the upcoming World Championship.

On March 17, President of the Iranian Football Federation Mehdi Taj announced that the country’s football body was in talks with FIFA on relocating the team’s matches at the 2026 World Cup from the United States to Mexico. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in turn that the world’s governing body of football will do everything in its power to accommodate the Iranian national team at the upcoming global football championship.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States between June 11 and July 19. The matches will be staged in 16 cities across the three countries. This will be the first FIFA World Cup featuring 48 teams instead of the previous 32-team format.

The Iranian football team qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and, following the draw, was placed in Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. Iran was scheduled to play all of its three group stage matches in the United States.

The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack. Iranian authorities also decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to vessels associated with the United States, Israel, and countries that supported aggression against the Islamic Republic. During the conflict, several tankers were attacked for passing through the strait without Tehran’s permission. On March 25, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran had allowed friendly countries, including Russia, India, Iraq, China, and Pakistan, to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.