Iran for – Misryoum newsroom reporting: FIFA president Infantino insists Iran “for sure” will be at the World Cup in the U.S. after March 2025 qualification, despite shifting doubts over travel and conflict.
The World Cup draw isn’t even fully settled in people’s heads yet, but the conversation around Iran is already everywhere. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran “for sure” will be at the tournament this summer—despite the ongoing war with the United States.
That certainty matters because the timeline got messy fast.. The start of the conflict on Feb.. 28 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.. The World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States. Canada and Mexico. but Iran is set to play all three of its group-stage games in the U.S.. which basically turns “can they travel?” into the whole question.
Doubts after Feb.. 28
Misryoum newsroom reported that the request to shift games to Mexico didn’t go anywhere.. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed last week that FIFA had rejected that request. with world soccer’s governing body insisting that the World Cup will proceed as scheduled.. So while the politics kept shifting in the background, the tournament calendar didn’t budge.
Infantino doubles down in Washington
There’s also the personal angle, because Infantino recently spent time with the team.. Misryoum editorial team stated that prospects appeared to improve toward the end of last month when Infantino visited the team during a training camp in Antalya. Türkiye.. “I went to see them two weeks ago, they were having a training camp in Antalya,” Infantino said.. And then he leaned into the idea that sports shouldn’t be hostage to politics—maybe not a new argument. but one that still lands when the stakes are this high.
Match schedule and the U.S.. reaction
Still, FIFA’s confidence doesn’t mean the debate stops.. Misryoum analysis indicates that U.S.. President Donald Trump has variously said “I don’t really care” if the Iran team comes. that it was welcome to come and players would be treated as stars and that the players’ safety was at risk.. It’s a strange mix—welcome on one hand. danger on the other—and it keeps the spotlight on what happens when the team is actually in motion.
On the pitch. the story looked more routine when Infantino watched Iran take on Costa Rica in a friendly in Antalya. Türkiye. on March 31.. The kind of detail you remember later—heat off the grass, the echo of stadium noise—wasn’t political.. The tournament, though, is the part that will test whether bridges can hold.. And for now, at least, the answer from FIFA is: Iran is coming.. Or maybe the answer will change the closer we get to those dates. when decisions stop being statements and start being logistics.
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