Iranian players will receive their visas 10 days before their World Cup opener against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles.
Published June 5, 2026
Iran’s World Cup soccer players were granted visas to enter the United States just 10 days before the first match in Los Angeles amid a conflict between the two countries, a White House official said.
Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazlu Pasandide, said late Thursday that the team had not yet received U.S. visas, but the visas were issued overnight, White House officials said.
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US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack confirmed the visa in a message from X on Friday. Commenting on reports that Iran’s World Cup players had obtained visas to enter the United States, he said, “I am proud of the talented team at the US Embassy in Ankara who processed work visas for the Iranian national soccer team heading to the @FIFAWorldCup in the US.”
The semi-state Fars news agency reported on Friday that the United States had not yet issued visas to some members of the Iranian team’s technical and administrative staff.
The Iranian Federation has not yet issued a statement regarding this news.
“Visas for some of the national team’s technical and executive staff have not yet been issued and the US embassy has so far refused to issue them,” Fahls said, without naming those involved.
The US and Israel’s war against Iran has turned the World Cup, the world’s biggest sporting event, into a geopolitical battle, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.
This will be the first World Cup since the tournament began in 1930 in which the host country plays a country at war.
Citing visa issues and growing sentiment in Iran that the team’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum, Tehran negotiated a last-minute move to move the team’s headquarters from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico.
They are scheduled to land in Tijuana early Sunday morning.
Iran is scheduled to play their first Group G match against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before facing Egypt in Seattle.
According to Ambassador Pasandide, the United States has never formally stated that it does not want the Iranian team to remain on its territory.
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the United States would not allow Iran to include anyone associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful branch of Iran’s military, in its World Cup delegation.
Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj has been denied entry to the draw for the tournament in Washington in December. He is a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards.
Pasandide said Iran’s desire to compete in the World Cup underscores Iran’s efforts to resolve the war with the United States.
“Iran’s participation in the World Cup shows that Iran seeks peace, even on the soil of countries considered enemies,” Pasandide said through a Spanish interpreter at the Iranian embassy in Mexico City.
Progress in peace negotiations between Iran and the United States has been slow, with both sides appearing to inch toward an interim agreement despite continued military attacks.
