President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday that he does not feel like it is appropriate for Iran to participate in the 2026 World Cup due to safety concerns.

“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” Trump said.

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Iran’s national team responded Thursday, saying its participation in the World Cup is not up to an individual or country:

“The World Cup is a historic and international event and its governing body is FIFA — not any individual or country,” the team said in an Instagram Story. “Iran’s national team, with strength and a series of decisive victories achieved by the brave sons of Iran, was among the first teams to qualify for this major tournament. Certainly, no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup; the only country that could be excluded is on that merely carries the title of “host” yet lacks the ability to provide security for the teams participating in this global event.”

Trump’s comments came days after he met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino to discuss the tournament, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“We also spoke about the current situation in Iran, and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026,” Infantino said via Instagram. “During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”

Infantino’s comments followed an interview Trump gave to Politico last week in which he said he wasn’t concerned with Iran’s participation.

“I really don’t care [if Iran participates],” Trump said. “I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”

The uncertainty around Iran’s involvement intensified earlier this month after Mehdi Taj, president of the country’s soccer federation, suggested the team’s participation was in doubt following U.S. airstrikes in Tehran.

Then on Wednesday, Iran’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said that Iran cannot take part in this summer’s tournament following U.S. military action.

“Given that this corrupt government assassinated our leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei], there are no conditions which allow us to participate in the World Cup,” Donyamali said, according to media citing the agency DPA.

“Our children are not safe and, ​fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist. Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they ‌have ⁠forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence.”

Iran was drawn into Group G with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand and is scheduled to play its games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and Lumen Field in Seattle. The team is scheduled to set up a training base in Tucson, Arizona.

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Last June, Trump imposed a travel ban for Iranian nationals, but there are exceptions for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event.”

“We all need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together now more than ever,” Infantino said.

Should Iran not participate, FIFA would decide the replacement, which would likely go to another Asian team. Iraq reached the intercontinental playoff and is the highest-ranked Asian team that didn’t directly qualify. Next in line would be the United Arab Emirates if Iraq qualifies through the playoff.