Iran Requests Relocation of 2026 World Cup Matches from US to Mexico

Iran's Minister of Sport and Youth, Ahmad Donyamali, has proposed moving the Iranian national team's 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage matches from the United States to Mexico, in a shift from his earlier statement that Iran could not participate in the tournament at all. The proposal, reported by multiple European outlets on March 14, 2026, represents a potential compromise that would allow Iran to compete while avoiding American soil. FIFA and the tournament's organizing committee have not yet officially approved the request. The move follows a period of acute political and security tension between Iran and the United States.

Iran is currently scheduled to play its Group G matches against Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand at venues in Los Angeles and Seattle. Donyamali's new proposal would relocate all of those fixtures to Mexico, one of the three co-host nations of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The tournament is set to run from June 11 to July 19, 2026, across all three North American host countries. Any relocation of matches would require special logistical and scheduling arrangements from tournament organizers, according to reporting by La Libre.be. The scale of such a change — affecting group stage scheduling, stadium assignments, and potentially knockout round planning — makes the approval process complex.

Iran qualified for the 2026 World Cup and was drawn into Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand. The 2026 tournament marks a significant expansion of the competition, with 48 national teams participating for the first time, up from the 32-team format used in previous editions. The event is being co-hosted across three nations — the United States, Mexico, and Canada — with matches distributed among venues in all three countries. Earlier in March 2026, Donyamali stated publicly that Iran was not in a position to participate in the World Cup at all, citing the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. Web search results indicate that Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of the late supreme leader, has since been named his successor.

The proposal to play in Mexico represents a notable reversal from Donyamali's position expressed on March 11, 2026, when he told reporters that Iran could not participate in the tournament. That earlier statement followed the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which Donyamali cited as a reason the team was not in a position to compete. The new stance suggests Iranian authorities are now exploring options that would preserve the country's participation in the tournament without requiring the team to enter the United States. According to La Libre.be, the minister's comments were made in the context of political and security concerns about competing on American soil. The proposal places the tournament's organizing committee in an unusual diplomatic position, as it would need to weigh sporting logistics against geopolitical considerations involving a participating nation. No timeline for a decision by FIFA or the organizing committee has been confirmed in available reporting.