Iranian soccer had a good week on its troubled path to playing World Cup games in the United States in June.
A first face-to-face meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino since the U.S. and Israel started a war against Iran on Feb. 28 made genuine progress in soccer diplomacy at the end of a fraught month.
The Iranian soccer federation's upbeat readout of the meeting in Turkey made no mention of moving World Cup games to Mexico — a subject Infantino
has repeatedly shut down for the past two weeks.
Infantino also offered tangible help for the squad to prepare for the World Cup in the next two months. Most Iran players are with clubs in the national league that has shut down during the war.
Iran's World Cup hosts in Arizona said this week they were pressing on with training camp upgrades plus local and federal security plans — echoing the “stick to the schedule” mantra FIFA has used.
Infantino stayed on in the Turkish coastal resort of Antalya to watch Iran rout Costa Rica 5-0 in a warmup.
Clearly, the next two months are full of uncertainty for the Iran team and nation itself amid mixed messages about U.S. intentions for the war.
Still, talk of Iran boycotting soccer’s biggest event or seeking to move its games from Los Angeles and Seattle to Mexico has faded.
The Iranian delegation is due at its Tucson training camp no later than June 10 for the June 11-July 19 tournament.
The war immediately cast doubt on Iran’s ability and willingness to fulfill a World Cup entry secured in March 2025 as one of the best teams in Asia.
In the first half of March, government officials variously suggested the team could not play at the World Cup, could not travel to the U.S., and FIFA should move Iran's games to co-host Mexico.
A spokesman for the Iran Football Association did not respond on Thursday to a request for comment. Iran has not withdrawn its entry with FIFA.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum appeared to suggest hosting Iran games was possible, without advocating for an unprecedented late change to a World Cup schedule.
U.S. President Donald Trump added to the confusion. He variously said “I really don’t care” if Iran comes to the World Cup, that players were not safe — he seemed to mean they were at risk from regime reprisals at home — and promised they would be treated like stars.
FIFA has been the most consistent commentator, and Infantino the only top soccer official openly talking about the delicate diplomacy: That Iran will come to the U.S., that the schedule will not change, and no formal negotiations about Mexico had or would take place.
Iran, therefore, is on track to come to Arizona and start preparing for a first game on June 15 against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Rams stadium in Inglewood.
The FIFA-mandated break for clubs to release their players to national teams gave World Cup squads up to nine days together and two warmup games.
Iran was scheduled to go to Jordan, another World Cup team, where Nigeria and Costa Rica were invited to be opponents in back-to-back games. When the war spread across the Middle East, those games were switched from Jordanian capital Amman to the safety of Antalya in southern Turkey.
For most Iran players, a 2-1 loss to Nigeria last Friday and the win against Costa Rica on Tuesday was their first competitive action since the Persian Gulf Pro League stopped.
Both Iran games were without fans in the stadium. In a similar warmup before the 2022 World Cup, Iran fans were locked out of a stadium in Austria, avoiding any protest against the government being shown on the broadcast back home.
In Antalya, the Iran team protested the U.S.-backed military strikes by holding up children’s backpacks and photos of victims of the war during the national anthems.
Missing from the squad was star striker Sardar Azmoun. He was not selected reportedly on the order of state authorities because of a social media post by the Dubai-based player of a photograph with him greeting political leaders of the United Arab Emirates.
Ahead of Iran’s trip to Turkey, FIFA declined to confirm details about which officials would go there for the best — and, realistically, first — chance to meet Iranian federation leaders during the war.
Infantino landed on Tuesday morning. He spoke to a room full of players and coach Amir Ghalenoei, and met privately with federation officials Mehdi Mohammed Nabi, and Omid Jamali.
In a later Instagram post, Infantino promised FIFA’s support to give the team “the best possible conditions” to prepare for the World Cup.
More detail came in an Iranian federation readout, which FIFA later confirmed was an accurate summary of Infantino’s various meetings.
Infantino, the release said, promised he was “at your service, and if you need help, I will provide it,” including with organizing a training camp ahead of the World Cup. That could be in Turkey in the coming weeks.
The Iranian statement did not refer to moving games to Mexico, which Infantino has repeatedly said cannot happen. He told Mexican broadcaster N+Univision at the weekend there is no backup plan for Iran at the World Cup, only Plan A.
The World Cup draw was made on Dec. 5 in the presence of Trump, minutes after he was awarded the first FIFA Peace Prize by Infantino. The venues for games were confirmed one day later. Several of Iran's delegation, including federation president Mehdi Taj, were denied visas to enter the U.S. That remains a key problem ahead of the World Cup.
After playing New Zealand in Inglewood, Iran is due to return there six days later to play Belgium, the Group G top seed. Iran completes the group in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.
FIFA had the option to put Egypt vs. Iran in Vancouver but chose to keep Iran inside the U.S.
FIFA had about 200,000 total tickets available for those three Iran games and most are sold. Changing cities to Mexico would expose FIFA to compensating fans, broadcasters and sponsors who have paid for flights and hotels according to the official game schedule.
Iran has chosen Arizona as its training base, at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson. World Cup rules require teams to enter the host nation at least five days before its first game.
At the camp, director Sarah Hanna said in a statement, “There has been no official update regarding Iran’s plans to train at Kino Sports Complex, and we are continuing to prepare for Team IR Iran’s arrival.”
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AP Sports Writer David Brandt contributed from Phoenix, Arizona
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