Soccer-Iran continuing World Cup preparations but will not play in US, says soccer chief

March 19 (Reuters) – The Iranian national team are continuing to prepare for the World Cup finals and have no intention of pulling out of the tournament even if they will not travel to the United States, soccer chief Mehdi Taj said on Wednesday.

Iran were one of the first nations to qualify for the finals but their participation has been in doubt since the conflict between the Islamic Republic and the United States began in late February.

The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 and is being staged in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Team Melli are scheduled to play all three of their opening-round group matches in the U.S. but Taj said on Monday the Iranian FA (FFIRI) was negotiating with FIFA to have them moved to Mexico.

Iran will play Nigeria on March 27 and Costa Rica four days later in Antalya as part of a four-nation invitational tournament that had to be moved from Jordan because of the conflict in the Middle East.

“The national team is holding a training camp in Turkey, and we will also play two friendly matches there,” FFIRI President Taj was quoted as saying by the Fars News Agency on Wednesday.

“We will boycott America, but we will not boycott the World Cup.”

Taj was speaking on Wednesday as he welcomed the players from the women’s national team back to Iran at the border crossing from Turkey after their protracted journey from Australia.

All of the delegation, who were in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup, were offered asylum by the host nation because of fears for their safety in Iran. While seven accepted, only two ended up staying.

U.S. President Donald Trump had urged Australia to offer the players asylum and later said that while the Iranian men were welcome to play in the U.S., it might not be appropriate for their “life and safety”.

Trump later stressed any threat to the players would not come from the United States, but Taj — a former member of Iran’s hardline Revolutionary Guard — used the president’s statement as grounds for demanding the venue switch.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her country would be open to hosting Iran’s World Cup matches against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in June, but the final say on any venue switch would be FIFA’s.

Soccer’s world governing body said it was in contact with FFIRI but was “looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on 6 December 2025”.

Beau Busch, the Asia-Pacific president of football players’ union FIFPRO, said it was FIFA’s duty to ensure the safety of everyone involved at the World Cup.

“FIFA have an institutional responsibility to protect human rights,” the Australian told Reuters.

“What’s critical is that FIFA undertake a really comprehensive human rights impact assessment, and they assess to ensure that every single participant at the World Cup, every player, every fan, can be safe, and that any risks are identified and mitigated effectively.”

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney and Ian Ransom, editing by Peter Rutherford)