The president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, had said his organisation was "negotiating" with FIFA to move the team's matches away from the United States, amid American and Israeli air strikes on Iran.
However, a FIFA spokesperson said on Tuesday: "FIFA is in regular contact with all participating member associations, including IR 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 December 6, 2025."
Should FIFA maintain this stance, it seems likely Iran would withdraw.
That would open the door for Iraq, coached by former Socceroos boss Graham Arnold, to replace them. Iraq were the next-best placed Asian team and are due to play an Inter-Confederation play-off later this month.
Iran are scheduled to play all three group games in the US, kicking off against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. Should they and the US finish second in their respective groups, the sides would meet in the last 32.
The US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on February 28, with Iran in turn targeting other Gulf nations housing US military bases.
The Iranian embassy to Mexico issued a post on X on Tuesday containing quotes from the country's FA chief Taj.
"When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America," Taj said.
"We are currently negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran's matches in the World Cup in Mexico."
Messages remain mixed. On Monday, Asian Football Confederation general secretary Windsor John said, "As far as we know, Iran is playing."
That followed a social media post last week in which Iran's national soccer team said "no one can exclude" it from playing in the global tournament.
Iran's first group opponents are New Zealand, who they are scheduled to face in Los Angeles on June 15.
The chief executive of New Zealand Football, Andrew Pragnell, told local media on Tuesday that he doubted FIFA would relocate Iran's matches.
The New Zealand national team's head coach, Darren Bazeley, said: "Right now we're still continuing as though we're playing Iran.
"They're the team that qualified and we got drawn against them. That's still the fixture and until we get told otherwise, we'll continue with that preparation."
