Problems with visas, staying outside the USA and cutting tickets for fans: the difficulties facing the Iran team in the World Cup

Iranian delegation has difficulty leaving the USA after World Cup debut
A few days after the start of the World Cup, Iran's football team has faced a series of difficulties in competing in the tournament in the United States.
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Among the main obstacles faced by the Iranians are problems with the delegation's visas, revoked fan tickets and complex logistics before and after each game.
This The reality stems from the politicization of the Iranians' presence in the tournament due to the war between the USA and Iran. The conflict had a peace agreement signed between the two countries at the beginning of the week, but tensions remain.
In and out of the USA in each match
The Iranian team's problems became more evident with their debut in the World Cup, in a 2-2 draw against New Zealand in Los Angeles. The team had to leave the USA in the early hours of Monday (15), a few hours after the match, as ordered by the Trump administration - but faced difficulties due to problems with the visas of some members of the delegation.
The different treatment given to the Iranians generated an outburst from coach Amir Ghalenoei directly to the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, during a rare visit by the director to the team's dressing room after the game. Ghalenoei said the team is suffering an "injustice" and a "lack of humanity" from the host country.
"We were the most attacked team in the World Cup, because of the conditions and the effect they created for us, and that was an injustice. (...) We don't know why they are sending us back [to Mexico], we need to recover after the game, but they forced us to get on the plane and go back," said Ghalenoei.
The Iranian players received visas to play in the World Cup just a week before the start of the tournament, and the delegation can only enter the USA 36 hours before each match and must leave the country immediately after each game. The team would initially stay in Tucson, Arizona, but had to move its base to Tijuana, Mexico.
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Iran fans had tickets banned
Fans at Iran International Airport Tijuana, Mexico, welcome the Iranian national team upon arrival for the World Cup, on June 7, 2026
Victor Medina/Reuters
The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) reported that its quota of tickets for the competition was withdrawn by the USA just two days before the start of the World Cup, on June 9. Like the other 47 participants in the tournament, Iran was entitled to an 8% share of tickets for its matches to distribute to its fans.
The decision alienated the Iranian federation from this right, and left fans who had already made travel plans unable to attend the Iranian national team's matches.
"This is despite the fact that many Iranian fans, trusting the officially announced process, had already made the necessary plans to attend the games," FFIRI said in statement.
As a result, only the presence of Iranian fans at the games was limited to those already in the USA. The North American country is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran, with around 630,000 people.
Donald Trump's government had already banned Iranians from entering the USA during the World Cup. The same happens with the citizens of Haiti, which is also competing in the football tournament.
Controversies in the debut
Captain of the Iran national team, Mehdi Taremi.
Reuters/Kiyoshi Mio
The Iranian team's debut in the World Cup was also surrounded by other controversies:
Fans reported that their flags were confiscated inside the stadium;
Iranians staged protests against the ayatollahs' regime outside the venue of the game.
Iran's anthem was booed by part of the public when it was played before the match;
The day before the match, captain Mehdi Taremi protested to journalists present at a press conference for not having received any questions about football, only about geopolitics.
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Source: G1