Trump Says ‘I’m OK’ With Iran Playing in the US World Cup Even as War Rages

President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that he has no problem with Iran showing up to play football on American soil this summer.

“If Gianni said it, I’m OK,” Trump said from the Oval Office, referring to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “You know what? Let them play.”

The comments came just after Infantino, speaking at the 76th FIFA congress in Vancouver, tried to shut down any lingering uncertainty about Iran’s participation in the upcoming World Cup, which will be hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States in June and July.

“Let me start by the outset, confirming straightaway that of course Iran will be participating at the FIFA World Cup 2026,” Infantino told the gathered football power-brokers. “And of course, Iran will play [in] the United States of America.”

That clarity matters because Iran’s presence at the tournament has been up in the air since the US-Israel war on Iran erupted back in February. Iranian officials had floated the idea of shifting their group games from the US to Mexico, but Infantino had already nixed that proposal.

Tensions, however, didn’t just vanish. Iran’s delegation was the only absentee from the 211-member congress as Thursday’s meeting got underway, following a clash with Canadian border officials earlier in the week. Officials from the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) abruptly left Canada after landing in Toronto, abandoning their onward trip to Vancouver. Iranian media reported that FFIRI President Mehdi Taj — a former member of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — and two colleagues flew home after being “insulted” by Canadian immigration officers. Canada, which designated the IRGC a “terrorist organisation” in 2024, said Wednesday that individuals linked to the force were “inadmissible.”

None of that seems to have moved Trump, at least when it comes to the matches. Iran are due to be based in Tucson, Arizona, during the World Cup and face New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt in Group G. They open their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.