The team’s complaint came as the team’s request to fly to the United States two days before its next game was denied.
Published June 19, 2026
Iran’s 2026 World Cup squad will file a complaint with FIFA over travel restrictions imposed during the North American tournament, a spokesperson for the Iranian Football Federation announced on Thursday.
“Despite submitting the preparation schedule for the tournament long in advance, the Iranian national football team once again faced restrictions from the organizers, which affected the implementation of the technical staff’s plans,” the spokesperson said, according to AFP news agency.
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Iran had hoped to fly to the United States from their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, two days before their next group match against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday. But the Iranian Federation claims its request was rejected.
“Considering that the match will be played in Los Angeles at 12pm local time, the Iranian Football Federation requested that the team be allowed to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match,” the spokesperson said.
“The aim was to give the players enough time to adapt to the match situation, complete their final training sessions and complete their preparations.
“Despite the technical reasons presented by the federation, the request was again rejected.”
After Iran’s World Cup opener on Monday, a politically charged 2-2 draw with New Zealand, U.S. officials announced that the team must depart within hours of the full-time whistle for World Cup group games in Los Angeles and Seattle.
The 2026 World Cup co-hosts made this reaction on Tuesday following criticism over their handling of the Iranian national team’s visas and stay in the United States after the first match.
The Iranian delegation left the United States hours after the match in Los Angeles ended at around 8pm local time (3pm Japan time) and returned to their base camp in Mexico, but were left without a day to recover in a hotel, prompting criticism of the US’ handling of visas.
“Game day minus 1,” the U.S. government says.
The US government opposes Iran’s claims.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, said on Monday that Iran had been advised in advance that it would be allowed to enter the United States only the day before the match.
“Teams will be cleared to play the day before the game, minus one day before the game,” Giuliani told CBS News.
“They’ll be asked to leave the day the game is over, the night of the game. And they could do it again in Los Angeles.”
He added that the procedure will be the same for Iran’s final group match against Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.
Iran, in Group G, began its tour in North America this week after months of uncertainty over the team’s World Cup appearance amid the United States and Israel’s war against Iran.
