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2026 FIFA World Cup
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Infantino Flies to Turkey to Lobby Iran

2 min read
19:23UTC

A sitting FIFA president visited a national team's training camp to personally plead for their participation. No written guarantees followed.

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SportAssessed
Key takeaway

Infantino personally lobbied Iran but left Antalya without any written security or visa commitments.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino flew to Antalya on approximately 1 April to meet Iran's squad and federation officials in person. 1 "We want them to play; they are going to play," he told the squad. "There is no Plan B, C, or D. Plan A is the only plan." 2

The visit was without modern precedent. A sitting FIFA president does not tour training camps to lobby reluctant nations. Infantino's presence reflected genuine institutional alarm: if Iran withdraws, it would be the first post-qualification departure since 1950, delegitimising the 48-team format before a ball is kicked. 3 The AFC confirmed in March that no formal withdrawal has been submitted , but the gap between formal status and political reality has widened since Mexico's president offered to host Iran's matches and FIFA refused.

FIFA pledged to assist with training camp organisation over the next 2 months. No written security or visa guarantees were committed. 4 Iran's Group G schedule remains published: 15 June versus New Zealand at SoFi Stadium, 22 June versus Belgium at SoFi, 26 June versus Egypt in Seattle. A training camp at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson is scheduled no later than 10 June. The 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver on 30 April is the next institutional checkpoint.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Iran qualified for the World Cup but its government has been saying it might not send a team because the tournament is hosted in the United States. Relations between Iran and the US are extremely hostile following a military strike that killed Iran's Supreme Leader in February. FIFA's president flew to Turkey, where Iran's squad was training, to personally ask them to participate. This is unusual; it would be like a sports federation's chief executive personally visiting a team's hotel to ask them not to quit. No written guarantees about safety or visas were given after the visit.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

The US-Israeli strike that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei on 28 February created a political environment in which Iranian state participation in a US-hosted event carries domestic legitimacy costs that no financial incentive can offset.

FIFA's revenue model for the 48-team format depends on complete group integrity. A withdrawal triggers a replacement process that is entirely untested: FIFA statutes give it sole discretion to select a replacement but provide no procedure, timeline, or criteria.

What could happen next?
  • Risk

    If Iran withdraws, FIFA's untested replacement procedure would activate for the first time in the 48-team era.

  • Precedent

    A successful Iran participation despite political tensions would confirm that FIFA's lobbying model can substitute for structural security guarantees.

Sources:Al Jazeera·Washington Post / AP·Washington Post / AP
Mentions:Gianni Infantino →FIFA →Iran →FFIRI →Turkey →United States →Mexico →Seattle →India →Time →New York Times →New Zealand →SoFi Stadium →AFC →Belgium →Prima →North Korea →Vancouver →Egypt →FIFA Congress →World Cup →
First Reported In

Update #5 · Italy Empties Its Federation in 48 Hours

Al Jazeera· 5 Apr 2026
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Causes and effects
Caused by
Iran not withdrawn; FIFA waits for April
Iran's continued non-withdrawal despite the AFC confirmation prompted Infantino's unprecedented personal visit to Antalya.
Occurred 15 Mar 2026
Read story →
This Event
Infantino Flies to Turkey to Lobby Iran
Infantino's intervention signals institutional fear of the first post-qualification World Cup withdrawal since 1950, yet the visit produced promises without commitments.
Different Perspectives
EU Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef
EU Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef
Publicly criticised Infantino after a Brussels meeting produced no safety guarantees for European fans — an institutional escalation that treats FIFA as answerable to European political authorities on operational security.
Iraq national team
Iraq national team
Coach Graham Arnold argued that closed airspace, shuttered embassies and stranded personnel make squad assembly physically impossible, requesting postponement rather than accepting what would be the first conflict-caused qualification forfeit.
Football Supporters Europe (FSE)
Football Supporters Europe (FSE)
Views FIFA's ticketing monopoly as an abuse of market dominance requiring regulatory intervention — the first fan organisation to invoke EU competition law against a sports governing body.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Positions itself as integral to tournament security infrastructure and has not excluded enforcement operations near match venues, despite three Congressional bills seeking restrictions.
Jalisco state government
Jalisco state government
Insists Guadalajara's World Cup matches will proceed as planned regardless of the February cartel violence, rejecting any possibility of FIFA relocating fixtures.
Jamaica Football Association
Jamaica Football Association
Publicly uneasy about playing in Guadalajara three months after cartel violence forced cancellation of an international sporting event in the same city.