TEHRAN: Iran will “boycott the United States” but “not the World Cup”, Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj said in a video released by the Iranian press agency Fars.

Iran is currently scheduled to play its group matches in the US in this year’s tournament.

“We will be preparing for the World Cup. We will boycott the United States but not the World Cup,” Taj said in the video released on Wednesday.

“The national team is holding a training camp in Turkey, and we will also play two friendly matches there,” he added.

Iran’s football federation says it has opened talks with FIFA about potentially relocating its matches from the United States, though the global governing body has so far maintained that the tournament’s schedule remains unchanged.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her country is prepared to host Iran’s first-round matches if required, due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Iran’s participation at this summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been in doubt since the war began last month, with President Donald Trump warning that the safety of Iranian players would be at risk if they travelled to the US.

Asked directly if Mexico was open to hosting the matches, Sheinbaum told a press conference on Tuesday: “Yes. Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with every country in the world, therefore we will wait to see what FIFA decides.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino initially said that Trump had given assurances that the Iranian team — scheduled to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, followed by Egypt in Seattle — would still be welcome.

But the Republican president then triggered uproar last week after stating that Iran’s football team should not travel to the tournament “for their own life and safety”.

Iran hit back at Trump’s comments saying that “no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup”.

Iran were the second Asian team after Japan to qualify for the World Cup, securing their place almost a year ago as they topped their qualifying group.

The Iran team’s base camp for the tournament is currently slated to be in Tucson, Arizona.

Abolfazl Pasandideh, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, on Monday denounced “the US government’s lack of cooperation regarding visa issuance and the provision of logistical support” for the Iranian delegation ahead of the World Cup, in a statement published on the embassy’s website.Should Iran not take part in the World Cup, it is not yet clear which country would replace them.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026

PARIS: Barcelona hit Newcastle United for seven to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Liverpool overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Galatasaray in their last-16 tie and both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid advanced to the next round.

Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski both scored twice as La Liga leaders Barcelona tore apart Newcastle at the Camp Nou, winning 7-2 in the second leg of their last-16 encounter to progress 8-3 on aggregate.

A spectacular match saw Anthony Elanga twice score for Newcastle inside the opening half-hour to cancel out goals by Raphinha and Marc Bernal.

However, the Catalans went back in front when Lamine Yamal converted a penalty deep in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-2 on the night, and they never looked back.

Fermin Lopez ran through for 4-2 early in the second half before Lewandowski added a quick-fire double either side of the hour mark, and Raphinha completed the scoring in the 72nd minute.

“The confidence that we got in the second half was good to see,” said Barca coach Hansi Flick.

It was a chastening defeat for Newcastle and just the third time since 1955 that an English team has conceded at least eight goals on aggregate in a European tie — one of the other occasions was this week, when Chelsea lost 8-2 on aggregate to Paris St-Germain.

“When the game was effectively over we didn’t react well to that, so it became a very difficult second half,” said Newcastle coach Eddie Howe.

It was also just the third time Barcelona have scored seven in a Champions League game, and Flick’s side can now look forward to an all-Spanish quarter-final next month against Atletico.

Diego Simeone’s men lost 3-2 on the night to Tottenham Hotspur in London, but progressed 7-5 on aggregate thanks to their 5-2 victory last week.

Randal Kolo Muani headed in on the half-hour to give Spurs the lead on the night and suggest a stunning comeback in the tie was possible.

A superb Julian Alvarez strike just after half-time doused the home side’s hopes, even if a fine Xavi Simons effort put Tottenham back in front.

David Hancko headed in Atletico’s second on the night, before Simons converted a last-minute penalty for his second of the game as Spurs rescued some pride by ending a run of eight matches without a win.

Half-centuries for kane, salah

Liverpool were too good for Galatasaray, overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit against the Turkish side with a comprehensive 4-0 win at Anfield.

Arne Slot’s side went ahead on 25 minutes through a lovely first-time finish at a corner from Dominik Szoboszlai.

Mohamed Salah then had a poor penalty saved in first-half stoppage time, but the Egyptian made up for that in style after the break.

He laid on two goals in the space of three minutes, one for Hugo Ekitike and the other for Ryan Gravenberch.

Salah then scored the fourth himself just after the hour, curling a superb effort into the far corner from the edge of the area from a Florian Wirtz lay-off.

It was his 10th club goal this season was also his 50th in the Champions League, and it sealed a 4-1 aggregate victory which takes the Reds through to a quarter-final against PSG.

That will be a repeat of a last-16 tie a year ago which PSG won on penalties — the French club have won four knockout ties against English opponents since the start of 2025.

“We could (have) won 10-0, but we did a good job. We can be proud,” said Ekitike.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has urged his side to keep their composure following their dominant performance.

“There was a lot at stake, that was pretty obvious, so we had to show how much we wanted it,” said Van Dijk. “I think occasionally we have been playing good games but not consistently on a regular basis and it’s been frustrating for all of us and for the fans as well.”

Things got even worse for Galatasaray as Victor Osimhen broke his right arm in the defeat with Dutch international Noa Lang set to undergo surgery on his thumb, the Turkish club confirmed on Thursday.

Bayern’s progress against Atalanta was never in doubt after their 6-1 win in the first leg in Italy, and they followed that with a 4-1 success in Munich.

Harry Kane opened the scoring with a retaken first-half penalty — his initial effort had been saved — and then added a brilliant second on 54 minutes.

The brace took the Englishman to a half-century of Champions League goals, as he joined Salah and Thierry Henry on that overall mark — Kane has done it in 66 games compared to 97 for Salah.

Teenager Lennart Karl got Bayern’s third and Luis Diaz the fourth, with Lazar Samardzic pulling one back as the Germans progress 10-2 on aggregate.

Last-eight pairings

Real will play Bayern Munich, in a clash of 15-time and six-time European champions. They still have never met in the final across 71 years of the European Cup and Champions League.

“We don’t fear anyone,” Kane told DAZN when asked about the prospect of that tie.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said: “Every club would live for these games. As a neutral, I’d watch it.”

Liverpool face defending champion PSG with the first leg at Parc des Princes. It’s a rematch of their thrilling round-of-16 games last season, that Slot reminded Wednesday: “We were the only team that brought them to extra time and penalties.”

The second leg at Anfield should be on Tuesday, April 14. Liverpool hasn’t played on April 15 since the Hillsborough Stadium disaster on that date in 1989.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid meet again twice just weeks after they played a two-leg domestic cup semifinal. Then, Atletico won 4-0 at home and lost 3-0 at Camp Nou to reach the Copa del Rey final.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026