Iran’s soccer federation said on Saturday the country “definitely” will participate in the 2026 Fifa World Cup and insisted that tournament hosts — the United States, Canada and Mexico — consider Tehran’s concerns around the team’s travel and how it will be treated.
“All players and technical staff, especially those who served their military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, should be granted visas without problems,” Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran president Mehdi Taj said, according to Iranian media.
In the statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, Taj said Friday that Iran had presented conditions tied to participation — including guarantees over visas, security and treatment of Iranian players and officials — and added that the Islamic Republic would take part “without retreating from our beliefs, culture and convictions.”
The remarks came after Canadian authorities last month denied entry to Taj ahead of a Fifa Congress, reportedly because of his past ties to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, which both the US and Canada have designated as a terrorist organization.