Iran wants to move its World Cup matches from US to Mexico. FIFA is sticking to its schedule

GENEVA (AP) — The public wrangling between Iran, FIFA and U.S. President Donald Trump over the narrative of playing in the World Cup shifted on Tuesday to Mexico where President Claudia Sheinbaum seemed open to a suggestion by Islamic Republic diplomats that Iran's games in June be moved to her country.

The Iranian ambassador and embassy in Mexico City said the country was negotiating with FIFA to move Iran’s three group-stage matches from the United States to Mexico after Trump last week discouraged the team from attending the 48-nation tournament, citing safety concerns.

It was already unclear whether such talks were even happening before FIFA said such unprecedented changes in World Cup history were not planned to a match schedule agreed three months ago.

Sheinbaum was asked about it Tuesday during her daily briefing.

“They are discussing with FIFA whether it’s feasible because they were going to hold the (games) in the United States," she said. “They are looking into whether they can hold (them) in Mexico, and we will inform you when the time comes. Mexico has relations with all countries in the world. We’ll see what FIFA decides and then we’ll announce it.”

In a statement, FIFA said it is “in regular contact with all participating member associations, including (the Islamic Republic of) Iran, to discuss planning for the FIFA World Cup 2026. FIFA is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on Dec. 6, 2025.”

The Feb. 28 start of U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran that killed the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior officials immediately cast doubt on the national soccer team going to play at least three World Cup games in the U.S., which is co-hosting the most watched global sports event with Mexico and Canada.

Iran's soccer federation has not canceled its World Cup entry with FIFA, though official comments have variously suggested the U.S. is unable or unwilling to ensure the delegation's secure arrival and accommodation.

Since last week, Trump has variously said “I don't really care” if the Iran team comes, that it was welcome and would be treated like all players as stars, and that the players' safety was at risk.

In comments posted late Monday on the embassy website, Iran’s Ambassador to Mexico Abolfazl Pasandideh urged FIFA to move the team’s games to Mexico, saying the U.S. was not cooperative on visas.

“We love the Mexican people very much and for us, the best situation is for our games to be held in Mexico,” he was quoted as saying by state-run news agency IRNA.

An Iranian government spokesman and the team itself have said in recent days it is up to FIFA and the U.S. to keep the team safe during the World Cup. The Iran team's planned training camp is in Tucson, Arizona.

Pasandideh's embassy in Mexico City also posted a statement attributed to national soccer federation president Mehdi Taj saying Iran wants to move its group-stage matches out of the U.S.

“When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” the statement said. “We are currently negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran’s matches in the World Cup in Mexico.”

Iran is scheduled to play New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21 in Inglewood, California, before finishing group play in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.

Moving the games would be remarkable less than three months before the World Cup and risks being judged a failure in the history of tournament hosting.

It also is not envisaged by Iran's first opponent.

New Zealand soccer federation chief executive Andrew Pragnell said Monday: “I also don’t foresee it as remotely feasible” to move scheduled games to another country. Tens of thousands of tickets have been sold for Iran games, including to visiting fans who have booked flights to the U.S.

“By trying to move the match schedule, you actually create more problems down the track," Pragnell told New Zealand media outlet Stuff, adding "I don’t think it’ll happen.”

The Belgian soccer federation declined to comment Tuesday.

Trump said last week that the Iran team was welcome at the World Cup despite the ongoing war in the Middle East but “I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”

Iran's mixed signals include sports minister Ahmad Donyamali telling state TV last week that it was not possible to play "due to the wicked acts they have done against Iran.”

But after Trump's post the national team said on Instagram that “no one can exclude” it from the tournament and a government spokesman in Tehran stressed it was the responsibility of FIFA and the U.S. as a co-host nation to keep players safe and secure.

“FIFA is the organizer of the World Cup,” Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. “When warnings are issued at the highest level about the environment being unsafe for Iranian football players, this indicates that the host country apparently lacks the capacity and ability to provide security for such an important sporting event.”

Soccer is followed passionately in Iran, a nation of more than 90 million people which has qualified for seven men's World Cups and each of the past four editions. The team is ranked No. 20 in the world by FIFA and behind only Japan from Asia.

FIFA has not commented in recent days beyond an Instagram post by president Gianni Infantino last week that he'd received assurances from Trump that Iran was welcome at the tournament.

Pye contributed from Brisbane, Australia. Amir-Hussein Rajdy in Cairo and Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City also contributed.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - President Donald Trump stands on stage next to the FIFA World Cup after receiving the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - Irans's players pose for a team photo before an Asian group A qualifying soccer match against North Korea for the 2026 World Cup, June 10, 2025, at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, file)

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office Tuesday expressed concerns about possible “ethnic cleansing,” denouncing an acceleration of Israeli settlements and displacements of thousands of Palestinians in large parts of the occupied West Bank that has grown “more relentless” in recent months.

A new report from the office of Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, covers a yearlong period through the end of October and warns of expanded settlements in large parts of the West Bank and the forced displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians.

Since then, "the pace of the concerted efforts by the Israeli government to seize as much Palestinian land as possible — with as few Palestinians in it as possible — is only becoming more relentless,” Ajith Sunghay, the head of the rights office in occupied Palestinian areas, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva.

The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva responded by saying that as far as Israel was concerned, the U.N. rights office “has lost all credibility.” It alluded to longtime allegations — backed often by the United States — of unfair bias against Israel and a relative disregard of other human rights situations around the world.

“It does not function as an impartial and neutral human rights office, but as the epicenter of vile anti-Israel activism,” the mission said in a statement, blasting a “U.N. anti-Israel narrative machine” that has produced several reports about Israeli settlements in recent months.

“It begs the question how it is possible for the Office to fund such duplicity, while other human rights situations remain sidelined,” it added.

Sunghay said Israeli security forces “have continued to kill Palestinians with impunity,” have launched daily raids across the West Bank, and increased movement restrictions in the territory that have impeded access to health care, jobs, education and other basic services.

“Yet Israeli settlers are roaming free with complete impunity, often armed, forcing Palestinian family after Palestinian family off their lands," Sunghay said.

Türk, in a statement, alleged that Israeli authorities were “playing the central role in directing, participating in or enabling this conduct,” and the report denounced harassment, intimidation and destruction of farmland and homes of Palestinians.

Israel's Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Embassy in Geneva didn't immediately comment.

Much of the displacement of thousands has taken place in the northern West Bank, where Israel launched a broad military offensive in early 2025. Israel's government says the operation is aimed at stamping out militant groups active in the area.

The report says the displacement "appears to indicate a concerted Israeli policy of mass forcible transfer throughout the occupied territory, aimed at permanent displacement, raising concerns of ethnic cleansing.”

At the same time, Israel's hard-line government has pressed ahead with an increase in new Israeli settlements across the West Bank. The international community overwhelmingly considers settlements illegal, though the Trump administration has been more tolerant of the construction. Israel's government is dominated by settler leaders and their political allies.

The rights office, which falls under the secretariat of U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said that Israeli authorities approved or moved forward on nearly 37,000 housing units in occupied east Jerusalem and more than 27,000 elsewhere in the West Bank.

Türk called for an immediate halt to the settlements and a reversal of their impact, along with the evacuation of all settlers and “an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territory.”

The construction boom has been accompanied by an increase in settler violence against Palestinians. Israeli leaders have portrayed the violence as the work of a tiny minority, but Palestinians and human rights groups say the Israeli army has done little to prevent the attacks and note that settlers are rarely held accountable.

Earlier this month, three Palestinians were killed in a violent clash with settlers near Khirbet Abu Falah, east of Ramallah, and in a rare rebuke, the Israeli military strongly condemned the settler violence.

While outside the period covered by the U.N. report, the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of “exploiting the atmosphere of war” and the lack of international attention to issues in the West Bank to intensify intimidation, violence and forced displacement.

Palestinians mourn at the funeral of four members of the Odeh family who were killed in their car by Israeli security forces during an army operation in Tammun, West Bank, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)