US President Donald Trump told reporters he is “OK” with Iran playing in the upcoming FIFA World Cup, to be held in North America in June and July. The comments came after FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed on Thursday that Iran would attend the tournament and play in the US.

“If Gianni said it, I’m OK,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “You know what? Let them play.” Earlier on Thursday, Infantino began his address to delegates at the 76th FIFA congress by reiterating that Iran would play their World Cup games in the US as scheduled.

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

Iran’s participation had been shrouded in uncertainty since the eruption of the US-Israel war on Iran in February. Iranian officials had floated the idea of shifting their group games from the US to Mexico, but that proposal had already been nixed by Infantino.

Tensions surrounding Iran’s World Cup participation rumbled into the build-up to Thursday’s summit. Iran’s delegation was the only absentee from the 211-member congress after a clash with Canadian border officials earlier this week.

Officials from the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) abruptly left Canada after landing in Toronto, abandoning their onward trip to Vancouver. Iranian media said 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.” Iran, based in Tucson, Arizona, during the World Cup, face New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in Group G, opening their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.

Source: www.aljazeera.com