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Iran\u2019s place at the US cohosted 2026 event has been in doubt since the US-Israeli war on their country.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Published On 30 Apr 2026<\/span>30 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u200cFIFA President Gianni Infantino has insisted Iran will play World Cup matches in the United States, despite \u2060the football governing body\u2019s \u2060Congress opening without the country\u2019s delegation, its absence highlighting tensions and challenges surrounding the tournament.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s absence deprived Thursday\u2019s congress of direct representation from a country whose presence at the 2026 World Cup is already shaping behind-the-scenes discussions, and the issue is particularly acute given the tournament\u2019s cross-border nature.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The expanded 48-team World Cup, cohosted by \u2060Canada, the United States and Mexico, will require teams, officials and support staff to move repeatedly between jurisdictions, raising the prospect that visa restrictions or diplomatic frictions \u2060could complicate planning for certain nations.<\/p>\n Iran have qualified for the tournament, \u2060but their participation has been fraught since the start of the US-Israel war on the country, with Tehran requesting alternative venues for matches on US soil.<\/p>\n FIFA has rejected the request, insisting the schedule would stand. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington had no objections to Iranian players participating in the World Cup, but \u200cadded that the players would not be allowed to bring with them people with ties to the IRGC.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me start at the outset. Of course, Iran will be participating at the FIFA \u2060World Cup 2026. And of course Iran will play in the United States of America,\u201d Infantino said at the congress.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the reason for that is very simple: we have to unite. It is my responsibility, our responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Iranian football federation officials, \u2060including federation President Mehdi Taj, were due to attend the gathering but turned back at Toronto airport after what Tehran described as \u201cunacceptable behaviour\u201d by Canadian immigration authorities, despite travelling with valid visas.<\/p>\n A source with direct knowledge of the matter told the news agency Reuters that two members of the delegation could have attended the FIFA congress but chose not to after one of \u200ctheir delegation was denied entry into Canada.<\/p>\n Taj is a former member of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Canadian officials said entry decisions were made on a case-by-case basis and individuals linked to the IRGC, which Ottawa designates as a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d, are inadmissible.<\/p>\n \u201cI can provide the following assurances and facts. One is that, as you know, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and all those members have been listed as a terrorist organisation for several years,\u201d Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe members are prohibited from coming. We have \u2060a series of screenings, and we take action. And no members have entered the \u2060country. Action has been taken appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside the convention centre, about 30 protesters draped in Iranian flags and holding signs gathered to voice their desire \u200cto \u200csee regime change in Iran.<\/p>\n The protesters chanted their support for Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi. \u201cIRGC is terrorists,\u201d they chanted. \u201cNo deal with terrorists.\u201d \u201cHey FIFA, oi FIFA, no deal with terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Iran\u2019s place at the US cohosted 2026 event has been in doubt since the US-Israeli war on their country. Published On 30 Apr 202630 Apr 2026 \u200cFIFA President Gianni Infantino has insisted Iran will play World Cup matches in the United States, despite \u2060the football governing body\u2019s \u2060Congress opening without the country\u2019s delegation, its absence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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