This proposal followed Trump’s recent Truth Social post, where he wrote: “The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J TRUMP.”

It remains unclear whether Trump was referring to the safety of Iranian players in Iran or in the USA. Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian FA, believes the US president had indicated he could not guarantee the players’ safety. He posted on X: “When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America. We are negotiating with Fifa to hold Iran’s World Cup matches in Mexico.”

Following the rejection of their request to play in Mexico, FIFA released a further statement, confirming Iran will be welcome to compete in the USA. They said: “FIFA is in regular contact with all participating member associations, including IR Iran, to discuss planning for the FIFA World Cup 2026. FIFA is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced.”

Iran face New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, with both fixtures taking place in LA. Their final match is scheduled for June 26 in Seattle against Egypt.

FIFA does possess the authority to determine which country would replace Iran, should they choose to withdraw from the competition. Iraq and the United Arab Emirates are the next highest-ranked nations from the Asian Football Confederation who have yet to qualify for the tournament.

Windsor John, the head of the Asian Football Confederation, also recently allayed any boycott fear by insisting that Iran are anticipated to travel to the USA for the tournament. When probed on the matter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he said: “It’s a very emotional moment. Everybody’s saying a lot of things.

“At the end of the day, it’s the federation who should decide if they’re playing, and as of today, the federation has told us that they are going to the ⁠World Cup. They are our member, we want them to play. You know, they qualified … so we hope that they will solve their issues, whatever it ⁠is, and be able to participate.”