Gianni Infantino attends Iran's 5-0 victory over Costa Rica

The FIFA president was a spectator at Iran’s match in Türkiye.

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino insisted on Tuesday that Iran will be in the World Cup despite the conflict between the country and the United States, while attending their 5-0 friendly victory over Costa Rica.

Infantino was a spectator at the match in Turkey, in which Iran’s players held photographs of some of the victims of the US and Israeli airstrikes during the national anthems.

Iran is scheduled to play all of its group matches in the United States, although the Iranian Football Federation has requested that those matches be moved to Mexico.

But speaking during half-time of Iran’s resounding victory, Infantino told AFP: “Iran will be in the World Cup. That’s why we are here. We are delighted because they are a very, very strong team, I am very happy.”

“I’ve seen the team, I’ve spoken to the players and the coach, so everything is fine.”

Infantino added that Iran’s matches “will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw.”

Mehdi Taremi scored twice and provided an assist as Iran earned the victory.

Holland settles for a draw

The Netherlands drew 1-1 against Ecuador in their penultimate friendly before heading to the World Cup.

The Oranje achieved an impressive 2-1 victory over Norway last week but were frustrated by the South Americans despite taking a second-minute lead thanks to a Willian Pacho own goal.

But the game changed when Denzel Dumfries brought down Gonzalo Plata and the last defender received a red card.

Plata then won a penalty when he was fouled by Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flekken, who had no response to Enner Valencia’s penalty shot.

Ecuador failed to take further advantage of its numerical superiority, although the draws with Morocco and the Netherlands represent a solid international break for La Tri.

The Netherlands will face Algeria in De Kuip in June in their farewell match before heading to North America.

Morocco, semi-finalist of the 2022 World Cup, beat Paraguay 2-1 thanks to goals from Bilal El Khannouss and Neil El Aynaoui.

Senegal, who were Stripped of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title this month Amid the continuing fallout from their controversial final against Morocco, they won 3-1 against Gambia, but there was a defeat for another African participant in this summer’s World Cup.

South Africa suffered a 2-1 defeat to Panama in the second meeting in the space of five days between the two sides. The first match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Marcel Sabitzer scored the only goal of the match as Austria beat South Korea 1-0, while neighbors Switzerland drew 0-0 with Norway.