Iran will file a complaint with FIFA regarding travel restrictions for the 2026 World Cup | World Cup 2026 news
The team’s complaint comes amid the rejection of its request to travel to the United States two days before its next match.
Published on June 19, 2026
Iran World Cup 2026 The Iranian Football Federation spokesman said on Thursday that the Iranian national team will file a complaint with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) alleging that it was subjected to travel restrictions during the tournament in North America.
“Although the preparation schedule for the tournament was presented early, the Iranian national football team once again faced restrictions imposed by the organizers, which affected the implementation of the technical staff’s plans,” the spokesman said, according to Agence France-Presse.
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Iran wanted to travel from its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to the United States two days before its next group stage match against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday. But the Iranian Federation claims that its request has been rejected.
“Since the match will be held at 12 noon local time in Los Angeles, the Iranian Football Federation has requested that the team be allowed to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match,” the spokesman said.
“The aim was to provide enough time for the players to adapt to the match conditions, complete the final training session, and finish preparations.
“Despite the technical reasons presented by the Federation, the request was rejected again.”
After Iran’s first World Cup match on Monday – which Draw with New Zealand 2-2 In a politically charged confrontation – American officials He said The team will have to leave the country within hours of the final whistle for their World Cup group matches in Los Angeles and Seattle.
The response from the 2026 World Cup host nation came the following Tuesday Criticism of its handling of the Iranian team’s visas and remain in the United States after their first match.
The Iranian delegation left the United States hours after the match in Los Angeles at around 8pm local time (03:00 GMT) and returned to their base camp in Mexico, drawing criticism of the US’s handling of their visas, as the team did not get a day to recover at their hotel.
The US government says: “Match day minus one.”
The US administration responded to the Iranian allegations.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, said on Monday that Iran had been informed in advance that it would not be allowed into the United States until the day before the match.
“The team will be allowed in, minus one, the day before the game,” Giuliani told CBS News.
“They will be asked to leave on the day the match ends, that is, the evening of the match. They will be able to do that again in Los Angeles.”
He added that the procedure will be the same for Iran’s final group match against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
Iran, which is in Group G, began its campaign this week in North America after months of uncertainty regarding the team’s participation in the World Cup amid difficult circumstances. The American-Israeli war on Iran.
