The 2026 FIFA World Cup had a political angle to almost every move that was made. Although sports and politics should never come together, it does. And one of the victims of that was Iran’s soccer team. And according to the FIFA President, they should not have faced such difficulties.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Iran entered the United States without incident or conflict… It’s not about politics… Football is about unity, not division. Football is bigger than hate and discrimination,” posted Gianni Infantino on his Instagram.
On paper, Gianni Infantino believes the 2026 FIFA World Cup showed soccer at its very best despite the critics. Using Iran as an example, he gave an example of how the fans saw past the politics. He argued that soccer broke through political tensions and the fans even got behind the Iran players.
“When the Iranian team began playing, all the chants against them turned into a single song,” Infantino wrote. According to Infantino, those scenes showed football creating unity while critics focused only on the negative side of the World Cup.
Reuters
July 5, 2026; Mexico City, Mexico; FIFA President Gianni Infantino inside the stadium before the match. Mandatory Credit: Paul Childs-Reuters via Imagn Images
But Iran’s World Cup was filled with challenges that fans didn’t witness.
Captain Mehdi Taremi called the tournament “a disaster” because of visa restrictions and how they impacted the team’s staff and stay. Iran shifted its training base from Arizona to Tijuana and had to make trips into the United States for every game, that too only 24 hours prior.
Four federation staff members were also denied visas. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei said that those restrictions made the team feel unfairly treated compared to the other teams.
Infantino, however, rejected that narrative and argued that haters ignored the millions whose visas got approved and are focusing only on the few cases that were rejected. The FIFA president also said football should never become trapped inside politics because its purpose is to bring people together and not divide them.
He believed that the hate overlooked almost every positive story that came from this World Cup.
Infantino has also accused critics of spreading hate instead of celebrating football’s ability to unite people from different backgrounds. Iran’s players, meanwhile, acknowledged the support inside stadiums but didn’t shy away from talking about the problems they faced behind the scenes.
But even with Gianni Infantino defending the process and the World Cup, the fans may not be convinced. Only time will tell if FIFA hears their pleas and makes changes for next time.
