Iran's participation in World Cup 2026 was doubted for many months after the war started against Israel and United States on February 28. The conflict, that extended to the rest of the Middle East, hasn't ended, and despite the tense relations between Iran and United States, Iranian team will go to the US to play their World Cup matches.
At least, that's the expectation after a massive party in the streets of Tehran took place yesterday, where thousands of people went to Enqelab Square to see the football players and the kit for World Cup, revealed at the party. Mehdi Taj, President of the Iranian Football Federation, said that "whatever the result, may Iran's flag be raised there and defended" (via Al Jazeera).
"This is the best sendoff in the last four World Cup campaigns. The players are with the people, and the crowd stands with the country's dignity, honour, and strength", Taj added, who a few weeks ago was denied entrance at the Canadian airport while travelling to a FIFA meeting because he is a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), listed as a terrorist organisation in Canada, as well as the US.
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There's still uncertainty, and Iran put into question many times the participation in a sports competition in a country they are at war with, but FIFA has insisted that Iran will go, declining their petitions to move their World Cup matches to Mexico, co-hosts of the World Cup alongside Canada. "FIFA has made promises, and hopefully those promises will lead to results, and the players will receive their visas on time", said Hedayat Mombeini, secretary-general of the football federation, in a state TV, saying they still haven't received the extraordinary visas that players and staff will receive to enter the country.