Infantino insists Trump has assured him Iran are ‘welcome’ to play at 2026 World Cup

Donald Trump has said Iran are “welcome” to play at the upcoming World Cup, despite the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to Gianni Infantino.

Fifa’s president said that during a meeting with Trump to discuss preparations for the competition, “we also spoke about the current situation in Iran”.

Infantino wrote on Instagram: “During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”

Iranian officials suggested recently that the country’s participation was in some doubt because of the war and last week Trump said “I really don’t care” whether Iran take part in the 48-nation tournament being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

Iran are scheduled to play group games against New Zealand and Belgium in Inglewood, California, and Egypt in Seattle. If the US and Iran finish second in their respective groups, they would meet on 3 July in Dallas.

Infantino has a close relationship with the US president, who in December was given Fifa’s inaugural peace prize. “We all need an event like the Fifa World Cup to bring people together now more than ever,” Infantino said, adding that he thanked Trump “for his support”.

This week Fifa’s World Cup chief operating officer, Heimo Schirgi, said the tournament was “too big” to be postponed because of global turmoil caused by the US and Israeli war against Iran. “We hope that everyone can participate that has qualified,” Schirgi said.

If the US refused to host the Iran team it could risk being removed as a World Cup host by Fifa. That is what happened to Indonesia three years ago when the country refused to welcome Israel for the men’s Under-20 World Cup eight months after the Israeli team qualified. Fifa dropped Indonesia weeks before the scheduled first game and moved that tournament to Argentina.