President Donald Trump's Iran World Cup stance explained by White House executive

With Infantino having offered an update over recent days, the executive director of the White House FIFA World Cup task force, Andrew Giuliani, has also weighed in.

Speaking to Politico, he said, via The Mirror: "I'm not going to speak for the Iranian team, but I will say that the president, when I've talked to him, has invited the Iranian team here.

"The president of FIFA made a statement, I think, yesterday, that they're going to be coming. So we expect them here. We expect them to be in Tucson at the beginning of June, and then playing in LA and Seattle."

Iran are scheduled to face Puerto Rico in the USA in a pre-tournament friendly, and Giuliani believes the game will proceed as planned. Giuliani added: "I had heard that as well. So, you know, they're still on. From my understanding, no plans have changed with the friendly."

Giuliani's remarks follow an update from Infantino himself, who stated his confidence that the Iranian team will participate in the World Cup.

He said: "The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes. We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation.

"As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play."

Infantino added: "I went to see them. They are actually quite a good team as well. And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now."

"OK we don't live on the moon, we live on planet Earth. But you know if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them, you know, intact and together, well we are doing that job."