World Cup star gives Donald Trump message on Iran war: ‘We just want peace’

Iran icon Mehdi Taremi has told FIFA that it has “helped us a lot” and said that Melli’s team was kicked out of Los Angeles and returned to its training ground in the Mexican city of Tijuana immediately after playing out a 2-2 draw with New Zealand in their 2026 World Cup opener.

The first nation to play in the World Cup while at war with the tournament’s hosts, Iran’s push to reach the finals included moving their training camp from Arizona to Tijuana despite their three group games being in the US – a country the president of Iran’s football association, Mehdi Taj, and other staff were not allowed to enter.

“We are tired of this situation,” said Taremi, who revealed that FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited the team’s dressing room after the match.

“In the last two months, we have had many problems. It is very bad and it affects our team. We want peace… happiness, and these things.”

World Cup 2026: FIFA ‘must help’ Iran

Iran is said to have been forced to come to the game in Los Angeles on Sunday, as it is planned to have two days in the host cities before each game.

“In the World Cup, you have to have a good preparation for the next game,” said former Inter and Porto striker Taremi, who has 57 goals and more than 100 caps for his country, describing the disruption as a “disaster” that caused “a lot of pressure on the players, staff and everyone”.

“We don’t have that support and FIFA should help us more than this.”

Taremi is not sure who told Iran they would have to leave immediately after the match and said there was no communication between FIFA and the squad.

“Of course, he wants to try to help us,” the 33-year-old said of Infantino. “But it’s about other things, we’re tired of talking about problems.”

Donald Trump: Iran’s World Cup team would ‘appreciate the help’

When asked if he had any words for US president Donald Trump, who ordered Operation Epic Fury against Iran in February, Taremi smiled and said his team was “here to play football”.

Trump is currently at the G7 summit in France, where the heads of Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will hold a special meeting on Iran on Tuesday.

On Monday, Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron that the first peace agreement was “all signed” by himself, vice president JD Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

“If they help us, we are very grateful for that,” said Taremi. “And if no one helps you, it doesn’t matter.

“I’m a footballer. I’m not a politician. We’re always behind each other, and we’re trying our best to win the next two games.”

Iran vs New Zealand: World Cup game of ‘change’

Iran coach Ardeshir Ghalenoei called the game and the atmosphere at the SoFi stadium, where Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi scored for his team and Taremi scored, “a turning point in the history of our country”.

“Many Iranians were here with different views and beliefs,” said Ghalenoei. “But everyone, with one voice, cheered for their country’s national team from the bottom of their hearts.

“In my opinion, this was the real victory of this game – that a crowd of about 70,000 people, most of them Iranians, congratulated Iran with all their hearts. This would be a turning point in the history of our country.”

There were jeers during the playing of Iran’s national anthem before the match, according to ESPN, which described the team’s support as a “bad word” and said flags from before and after the country’s 1979 revolution were raised to celebrate goals despite the symbols being banned by FIFA.

“We got up in the air so much that we didn’t get down,” said Ghalenoei. “They didn’t give us time to come two weeks before to practice and practice.

“Even tonight, after the game, we were told that we have to leave here, although today is a very critical time for our next game because we need to recover and prepare ourselves.

“Instead we have to board a plane and go back to Tijuana, this is the issue that causes us suffering, it’s very funny, the planning of our team is decided elsewhere.

“We were supposed to come to Los Angeles two nights before this game, but they didn’t agree. It was in our plans to stay here tonight, recover and come back tomorrow afternoon. Again, they didn’t give us permission, and I don’t know why.

“The president of the federation is not here, the manager of the team is not here, the manager of the internal team is not here.

“For example, on the bench, if we want to change, we have a coach who does the work of the team manager.

“In part of the pre-match activities, instead of the technical staff focusing on technical issues, it was administrative work.

“For this reason, we are the most unfairly treated team in the history of the World Cup.”

World Cup 2026: Iran thanks Mexico

Playing in the finals for the seventh time and the fourth in a row, Taremi and Iran are enjoying themselves despite the problem.

“We have loved football since we were six, seven, and ten years old,” explained Taremi.

“We just follow football, and we are always looking for football, which is very important to us – above all.

“When your team scores a goal and celebrates, it’s a great joy. We want to bring this joy to our fans, and I hope we can do that in the next game.”

Iran’s manager of the year five times Ghalenoei thanked his players. “With these conditions and the environment they have created for us, the players put more pressure than they can,” he said, showing.

“Although they were not in good physical shape and our adaptation was not 100% yet, we were able to play an acceptable game.

“The Mexican people, the Mexican government, especially, the city of Tijuana and its people made us not feel homesick, and allowed us to feel at home.

“We didn’t have the feeling of being strangers, we should be thanked and thanked for giving us this power.

“The way we were [otherwise] management – whether we arrive late before this game, or after this game – in my opinion, it makes situations difficult for us every day.

“However, we are very willing to put a lot of effort into our people with more energy and play better games.”

Iran World Cup matches, schedule

Here is how the schedule for the group stage in Iran looks like. An asterisk indicates a match that starts the next day at that location.