London [UK], March 18: FIFA appears to have ruled out the possibility of Iran moving their World Cup matches to Mexico, saying it is "looking forward" to teams competing in line with the original match schedule.
The president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, said his organization was "negotiating" with FIFA to move the team's matches away from the United States, amid US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.
However, a FIFA spokesperson said on Tuesday: "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 on December 6, 2025."
Should FIFA maintain this stance, it seems likely Iran would feel compelled to withdraw.
Iran are scheduled to play all three group games in the US, kicking off against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. Should they and the US finish second in their respective groups, the sides would meet in the last 32.
The US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on February 28, with Iran in turn targeting Gulf nations housing US military bases.
The Iranian embassy to Mexico issued a post on X on Tuesday containing quotes from the country's FA chief Taj.
"When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America," Taj said.
"We are currently negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran's matches in the World Cup in Mexico."
The chief executive of New Zealand Football, Andrew Pragnell, told local media on Tuesday that he doubted FIFA would relocate Iran's matches.
New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley also told reporters: "Right now we're still continuing as though we're playing Iran.
"They're the team that qualified and we got drawn against them.
That's still the fixture and until we get told otherwise, we'll continue with that preparation.
"Obviously, if things change, then we'll deal with that, but that would be (people at) a higher level than myself involved in those discussions."
Source: Qatar Tribune
