Iran is still committed in participating in FIFA World Cup in June, and the President of the Football Federation in Iran, Mehdi Taj, said that they won't boycott World Cup... but will boycott United States. And that makes the situation very difficult, because Iran is scheduled to play their three group stage games on US soil (Seattle and Atlanta), and changing the place of their matches (therefore affecting three other teams, New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt) is very difficult. Iran is talking to FIFA to move their games to Mexico, but that may be unlikely.
Speaking to Fars News Agency in Turkey, Taj confirmed that "the national team is holding a training camp in Turkey, and we will also play two friendly matches there. We will boycott America, but we will not boycott the World Cup."
Iranian men's national team will play friendlies on March 27 and March 31 against Nigeria and Costa Rica in Antalya, Turkey, as part of a mini-tournament that was initially meant to be played in Jordan, but was moved due to the war.
Taj was in Turkey as he welcomed the players from the women's national team, who went back from the AFC Women's Asian Cup, held in Australia, where they protested against the Iranian regime and were called "war traitors". All of the players were offered asylum in Australia, seven accepted the offer but only two ended up staying.
