Iran Seeks to Move World Cup Matches Out of US Over Safety Concerns

Iran’s football federation is exploring a workaround rather than a withdrawal, opening talks with FIFA about relocating its 2026 World Cup matches from the United States to co-host Mexico. The move reflects how quickly geopolitics has begun to shape even the logistical details of the tournament.

The idea is simple on paper: keep Iran in the competition, but shift its games away from US soil. In practice, it underlines a deeper tension between formal tournament structure and the political reality surrounding it.

Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj made the position explicit, linking it directly to comments made by US President Donald Trump about security risks.

“When [US President Donald] 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 negotiating ⁠with FIFA to hold Iran’s World Cup matches in Mexico.”

The timing matters. Iran had already secured qualification early — becoming the first Asian team to book its place in the expanded 48-team tournament, which is set to run from June 11 to July 19 across the US, Canada and Mexico. Under the current schedule, its group-stage matches are assigned to cities in the United States, including Los Angeles and Seattle.

But the wider context has shifted sharply. The ongoing war involving the United States and Israel against Iran, which began on February 28, has raised immediate concerns around travel, security and political optics. Iranian officials have already suggested that participation in the tournament may not be possible under current conditions.

Trump’s own messaging has added to the ambiguity. While formally stating that the Iranian team would be allowed to participate, he has also suggested it might not be appropriate for them to play in the US “for their own life and ⁠safety”.

That contradiction has effectively pushed the issue from a theoretical concern into an operational one. Iran’s proposal to move matches to Mexico is an attempt to keep a foothold in the tournament without stepping into what it views as a high-risk environment.

For FIFA, the situation creates a familiar but uncomfortable dilemma: maintaining the integrity of a global competition while navigating an increasingly fragmented political landscape. So far, there has been no official confirmation of any changes to match locations, and Iran has not formally withdrawn.