Donald Trump gives blessing for Iran to compete at World Cup: ‘If Gianni said it, I’m okay’

SportFootballDonald Trump gives blessing for Iran to compete at World Cup: ‘If Gianni said it, I’m okay’Iran’s participation in the finals has been uncertain since the US and Israel launched air strikes on the country on February 28Jamie Gardner Thursday 30 April 2026 22:47 BSTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":false,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"07a82a3c-094e-4811-aca4-0db19eee247c","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/donald-trump-iran-gianni-infantino-israel-fifa-b2968488.html","title":"Trump gives blessing for Iran to compete at World Cup: ‘If Gianni said it, I’m okay’"}}US President Donald Trump appears to have given the green light to Iran playing in the States this summer (Alex Brandon/AP)Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sportGet our free Inside Sport newsletterGet our free Inside Sport newsletterEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Inside_Sport_CDP","regTitle":"Inside Sport","subscriptionGroup":"inside_sport","subscriptionGroupId":"9cec95c5-a973-40ac-9b05-03d636c07853","type":"sport","pathPrefix":["/sport","/f1"],"associatedAuthors":["Lawrence Ostlere","Kieran Jackson"],"title":"Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Sport newsletter","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/InsideSport1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideSportNews","regSourceSection":"Football","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}United States president Donald Trump has given his blessing to Iran competing on his country’s soil during thi...