FIFA’s Infantino: Iran Will Play World Cup In US

FIFA and the Iranian soccer federation on Tuesday made their boldest claims yet that the country will participate in the World Cup on U.S. soil this summer.

Gianni Infantino, the president of the global governing body, said at Iran’s friendly in Turkey against Costa Rica that “Iran will be at the World Cup,” and FIFA is “delighted because they’re a very, very strong team.”

“The matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw,” Infantino told the French news agency AFP. Iran is scheduled to play three group stage games in Los Angeles and Seattle, but its World Cup has been in jeopardy since the U.S. and Israel attacked the country last month and killed its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran responded with counterattacks on numerous U.S.-Israeli allies and World Cup participants, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar. The U.S. has sent more troops to the region and continued airstrikes on the country. Thousands of Iranians have died, as have more than a dozen American soldiers.

If Iran and the U.S. Men’s National Team each place second in their groups, they will face each other in the Round of 32.

FIFA has held throughout the war that it would like all teams to participate. President Donald Trump initially said “I don’t care” if Iran participates in the tournament, then later said the team would be welcome, though perhaps shouldn’t come “for their own life and safety.”

Iran’s sports minister initially said that “under no circumstances” could the team participate in the tournament, and the federation later sought to move matches to Mexico after Trump appeared to threaten the team. FIFA denied that request, and on Tuesday, the Iranian side seemed to acquiesce.

“For us, what matters most are FIFA’s rules and regulations. We will comply with whatever FIFA decides,” the vice president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, said Tuesday. “Every host country has made commitments to FIFA and must honour them.”

Infantino also posted on Tuesday that he met with Maryam Yektaei, a goalkeeper on the Iranian women’s team that received international attention earlier this month as several players defected to Australia following the Women’s Asian Cup. Five of the seven players who sought asylum eventually returned to Iran.