FIFA President Gianni Infantino has delivered his most definitive assurance yet that Iran will compete at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, declaring the team’s participation certain despite the ongoing war between Iran and the United States and the profound geopolitical complexities surrounding the tournament.

Speaking at CNBC’s Invest in America Forum on Wednesday, Infantino said: “The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes. We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”

Infantino acknowledged the difficulty of keeping sport and politics separate, saying: “OK, we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth. But if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them intact and together, well, we are doing that job.”

The FIFA president also spoke with admiration about the Iranian squad following a personal visit to their training camp. “I went to see them. They are actually quite a good team as well. And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now,” Infantino said.

Iran’s participation in the World Cup was thrown into immediate doubt on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on the country. In the first half of March, Iranian government officials variously suggested the team could not play at the World Cup or could not travel to the United States.

Iran subsequently raised the prospect of a full boycott of the competition before formally requesting FIFA to move its matches from the United States to Mexico, a request the world governing body rejected. A fragile truce came into effect on April 8, but Iran’s participation remained deeply uncertain.

US President Donald Trump had previously suggested that Iranian players might not be “safe” in the United States, further complicating the picture.

Iran is scheduled to play all three of its Group G matches on American soil, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle with its base for the tournament in Tucson, Arizona.

Iran’s Group G opponents include Belgium, New Zealand, and Egypt. Their first match is scheduled for June 15 against New Zealand. The Iranian delegation is due at its Tucson training camp no later than June 10.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will feature 48 teams across 104 matches. The tournament opens at Mexico City Stadium on June 11 and concludes with the final in New Jersey on July 19.

Iran were among the earliest qualifiers for the tournament, becoming the sixth team to secure a spot and the second from the Asian confederation after Japan. The last time a national team withdrew from a FIFA World Cup was in 1950, when multiple teams declined participation in the first tournament held after World War II.

Infantino’s unambiguous declaration marks a significant moment for a tournament that has been increasingly overshadowed by the geopolitical tensions of its host nation’s war and serves as a signal that FIFA intends to keep all 48 qualified nations in the competition, regardless of the political climate surrounding them.