Mehdi Torabi was issued a new visa after his previous visa expired when the team returned to Mexico after the match against New Zealand.
Published June 16, 2026
US officials have confirmed that the Iranian national team must leave the country within hours of the final whistle for World Cup group matches in Los Angeles and Seattle.
The 2026 World Cup co-hosts issued a response on Tuesday to criticism over their handling of the Iranian national team’s visa and stay in the United States after the first match.
“It was clear this was a process,” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press.
Team Melli drew with New Zealand in a politically charged Group G match in Los Angeles on Monday, after months of uncertainty over the team’s World Cup appearance amid the United States and Israel’s war against Iran.
The Iranian team left the United States at around 8 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Japan time) hours after the game ended and returned to their base camp in Mexico, but there was no day for the team to recuperate in a hotel, prompting criticism of the United States’ handling of visas.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said after the game that his team was ordered to leave the United States and return to Mexico just hours later. Coach Galenoei said the team planned to spend the night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after the opener.
The United States faced further backlash after Iranian winger Mehdi Torabi’s entry visa expired after the first game. Team officials confirmed Tuesday afternoon that they have secured a new multi-entry visa that will allow them to travel to the United States for upcoming games.
The US State Department said: “This issue has been resolved.”
“As soon as we became aware of the issue, we worked to ensure that players could participate in all games.”
Giuliani said in an interview broadcast Monday night on CBS News that some support staff and team officials from the Iranian team were denied entry to the United States, but all players and coaches had obtained visas.
He also outlined the conditions under which Iranian teams could enter the United States for matches.
“Teams will be allowed to play the day before the game, the day before the game. Teams will be asked to leave the day the game ends, the night of the game. And they could do that again in Los Angeles. They could do it again in Seattle,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani did not go into details about why some support staff and team members were being denied entry, but he did refer to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s previous comments about denying entry to people with direct ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
“Secretary Rubio has said this clearly: No one with direct ties to the Revolutionary Guards will be allowed into the United States. We’re not going to let them into the United States because of the World Cup,” Giuliani said. “So I think the reason is very clear.”
Iranian captain Mehdi Taremi said the team endured a five-hour trip and security checks on Sunday from Tijuana to the Los Angeles area, normally a very short trip.
“I think FIFA has to help us more than this,” Taremi said.
