{"id":7065,"date":"2026-06-04T15:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/iran-footballers-describe-how-war-with-us-israel-affects-their-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:35:34","slug":"iran-footballers-describe-how-war-with-us-israel-affects-their-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/iran-footballers-describe-how-war-with-us-israel-affects-their-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran footballers describe how war with US-Israel affects their World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Iran is heading to the World Cup while the country is at war with a host nation, a situation that is unique in the tournament\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>The United States-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, and there has been an uneasy ceasefire in place since April 8, but the uncertainty \u2013 and occasional flare-up in hostilities \u2013 means an end to the conflict is far from certain.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/4\/who-are-the-world-cup-golden-boot-favourites-mbappe-ronaldo-messi-kane\">Who are the Golden Boot favourites at World Cup 2026?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/4\/man-city-threaten-legal-action-against-real-madrid-following-haaland-claim\">Man City threatens legal action against Real Madrid following Haaland claim<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/4\/sabalenka-mentally-off-track-as-french-open-exit-made-her-want-to-quit\">Sabalenka \u2018mentally off track\u2019 as French Open exit made her want to \u2018quit\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/3\/real-madrid-will-bring-mourinho-back-if-perez-is-re-elected\">Real Madrid will bring Jose Mourinho back if Florentino Perez is re-elected<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>For the Iranian players and staff, the situation has thrown their World Cup preparations into chaos \u2013 all of their matches are scheduled to be played in the US.<\/p>\n<p>The Iran team has spent more than two weeks in Turkiye, mostly practising at the coastal resort Antalya, and some travelled to the capital, Ankara, to submit visa applications at the US embassy.<\/p>\n<p>The team\u2019s participation in the event in the US, Canada and Mexico has long been in doubt and, with the visa situation still up in the air, nothing can yet be fully guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, to be honest, it\u2019s not easy,\u201d said Saeid Ezatolahi, a 29-year-old midfielder who also played for Iran in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is going to be my third World Cup. So for me and some of the other players, it might be easier to manage these kinds of things,\u201d he told The Associated Press news agency in English on the sidelines of a training session on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut at the end \u2026 it is going to be difficult for us because, at the same time, we are following the news in our country and the political things, of course, can affect the mind of the players and the people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team is set to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/3\/irans-world-cup-squad-to-depart-for-mexico-on-june-6-despite-us-visa-delay\">travel to Mexico<\/a> this weekend after receiving visas from the Mexican embassy in Ankara. The team said Thursday that the process of obtaining entry permits had been finalised for all members of the squad.<\/p>\n<p>Problems with visa processing meant Iran\u2019s World Cup training base was moved from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, on Mexico\u2019s border with California.<\/p>\n<p>Iran will play its first two games near Los Angeles, which has a large Iranian community, many of whom oppose the current government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo for sure, we are expecting to have a lot of fans during our games at the stadium,\u201d Ezatolahi said. \u201cAnd this is going to be a lot of pressure for us because the expectation is going to be high. I just wish we can make them proud and show them that Iranians, they are prepared for every hard job in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4626703\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4626703\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26153650837563-1780577818.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Iran's players work out during a training session, in Antalya, southern Turkey,\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4626703\">Iran\u2019s players work out during a training session in Antalya, southern Turkiye [Khalil Hamra\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mohammad Ghorbani, 24, is going to his first World Cup for Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s true that we are facing special circumstances right now, but we are football players, and we have to play, practise, and prepare ourselves for the competitions we have ahead,\u201d the Abu Dhabi-based player said in Farsi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the other hand, we know that our people have been going through a lot of difficulties throughout the war, and we are going there for them, to get the best results for their joy and the joy of the people of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The US and Israel killed Iran\u2019s supreme leader and other top officials in their initial attacks. Iran responded with strikes targeting Israel, US forces and the Gulf Arab states. It also has maintained a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf, imperilling global energy supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the nominal ceasefire, Iran and the US have yet to negotiate a permanent end to the war, and attacks continue in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Iran is in Group G with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt and Iran\u2019s team is not required to enter the US until June 14, one day before its first match against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Rams\u2019 stadium in Inglewood.<\/p>\n<p>Iran returns to Inglewood to face Belgium on June 21 and completes Group G in Seattle, against Egypt on June 26.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really proud to be part of my national team,\u201d said Ezatolahi, whose career has taken him to play for clubs in Spain, Russia, England, Belgium, Denmark, Qatar and now Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to clear up our minds and be fresh because our target and our duty is to fight for our people, to represent our country and to show how good we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ghorbani agreed, saying the team wants to bring joy to Iranians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe best message I can give right now is that the Iranian team is showing what it means to be a team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are showing that we are one team under one flag that can bring joy to our whole country, and to show the power of Iranian players and Iranian people to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The FIFA World Cup begins on June 11. You can follow the action on Al Jazeera\u2019s dedicated <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/fifa-world-cup-2026\/\">World Cup 2026<\/a> page with all the latest news, match build-up and live text commentary and keep up to date with group standings, real-time match results and schedules.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran is heading to the World Cup while the country is at war with a host nation, a situation that is unique in the tournament\u2019s history. The United States-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, and there has been an uneasy ceasefire in place since April 8, but the uncertainty \u2013 and occasional flare-up &#8230; <a title=\"Iran footballers describe how war with US-Israel affects their World Cup\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/iran-footballers-describe-how-war-with-us-israel-affects-their-world-cup\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Iran footballers describe how war with US-Israel affects their World Cup\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}