{"id":145087,"date":"2026-06-04T10:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/145087\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:04:12","slug":"ap-exclusive-iran-players-describe-how-the-war-affects-their-world-cup-preparations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/145087\/","title":{"rendered":"AP exclusive: Iran players describe how the war affects their World Cup preparations"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANTALYA \u2013 Iran is heading to the World Cup<\/a> while the country is at war<\/a> with the primary host nation, a situation that is unique in the tournament\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

In exclusive interviews with The Associated Press during a team camp in Turkey, two members of Iran\u2019s squad<\/a> described how the conflict is affecting its World Cup preparations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, to be honest, it\u2019s not easy,\u201d said Saeid Ezatolahi, a 29-year-old midfielder who also played for Iran in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to be my third World Cup. So for me and some of the other players, it might be easier to manage these kind of things,\u201d he said in English on the sidelines of a training session on Wednesday. \u201cBut at the end … it is going to be difficult for us because at the same time, we are following the news in our country and the political things, of course, can affect the mind of the players and the people.”<\/p>\n

The Iran team has spent more than two weeks in Turkey, mostly practicing at the coastal resort Antalya, and some went to the capital Ankara to submit visa applications at the U.S. embassy. Media access to their World Cup preparations has been limited, and the players rarely speak to international journalists.<\/p>\n

The team is set to travel to Mexico this weekend after receiving visas from the Mexican embassy in Ankara. The team said Thursday that the process of obtaining entry permits had been finalized for all members of the squad. Problems with visa processing meant Iran’s World Cup training base was moved<\/a> from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, on Mexico’s border with California.<\/p>\n

Iran will play its first two games near Los Angeles, which has a large Iranian community,<\/a> many of whom oppose the current government.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for sure, we are expecting to have a lot fans during our games at the stadium,” Ezatolahi said. “And this is going to be a lot pressure for us because the expectation is going be high. I just wish we can make them proud and show them that Iranians, they are prepared for every hard job in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mohammad Ghorbani, 24, is going to his first World Cup for Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true that we are facing special circumstances right now but we are football players and we have to play, practice, and prepare ourselves for the competitions we have ahead,\u201d the Abu Dhabi-based player told the AP in Farsi. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other hand, we know that our people have been going through a lot of difficulties throughout the war, and we are going there for them, to get the best results for their joy and the joy of the people of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team is not required to enter the United States until June 14, one day before its first match against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Rams\u2019 stadium in Inglewood.<\/p>\n

Iran returns to Inglewood to face Belgium on June 21 and completes Group G<\/a> in Seattle, against Egypt on June 26.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m really proud to be part of my national team,\u201d said Ezatolahi, whose career has taken him to play for clubs in Spain, Russia, England, Belgium, Denmark, Qatar and now Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to clear up our minds and be fresh because our target and our duty is to fight for our people, to represent our country and to show how good we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ghorbani agreed, saying the team wants to bring joy to Iranians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best message I can give right now is that the Iranian team is showing what it means to be a team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are showing that we are one team under one flag that can bring joy to our whole country, and to show the power of Iranian players and Iranian people to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANTALYA \u2013 Iran is heading to the World Cup while the country is at war with the primary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[34,46205,549,82],"class_list":["post-145087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-iran","tag-mohammad-ghorbani","tag-sports","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116691275740023743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}