FIFA and the Iranian Football Federation discussed Iran's participation in the World Cup in the USA
FIFA officials held talks in Istanbul with representatives of the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran in an attempt to address the remaining organizational and politically sensitive issues ahead of the Iranian national team's appearance at the 2026 World Cup, which begins on June 11. The meeting was held less than a month before the start of the tournament, at a time when the Iranian side is seeking clear guarantees regarding the entry of players, coaching staff and officials into the United States of America. According to a Reuters report carried by Al Jazeera, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström described the conversation as constructive and positive and said that FIFA is working closely with the Iranian federation. Iranian federation president Mehdi Taj said that FIFA had listened to the ten points presented by the Iranian side and offered solutions for each of them.
The issue of Iran at the 2026 World Cup goes beyond ordinary sports logistics. The national team will play all three group matches on American territory, while relations between Tehran and Washington have for decades been marked by the severing of diplomatic ties, sanctions and security tensions. Additional sensitivity is created by the fact that the tournament is being held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, and Iran has been placed in Group G with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt. According to FIFA's official schedule, Iran will play against New Zealand on June 15 in the Los Angeles area, against Belgium on June 21 also in Los Angeles, and against Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.
Visas and security guarantees at the center of the talks
The most important issue at the meeting was related to U.S. visas for the Iranian national team and official delegation. According to Iranian state media cited by Al Jazeera, Taj said on May 14 that U.S. visas had not yet been issued for the national team and that the players needed to undergo a biometric procedure, including fingerprinting. According to the same reports, the Iranian side sought to organize that procedure in Antalya instead of Ankara in order to reduce the additional burden on the players in the final stage of preparations. After the meeting, FIFA did not publicly announce details of possible solutions, and Grafström avoided directly answering the question of whether concrete guarantees had been obtained for the entry of Iranian players into the USA.
The Associated Press reported that the Iranian federation insisted that all players and members of the coaching staff, including people who had served their military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, must be able to obtain visas without obstacles. This topic is particularly sensitive because the United States and Canada have designated the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. In Iran, military service is mandatory, and some athletes may be assigned to different military or security structures. AP states that such a circumstance could also apply to national team captain Mehdi Taremi, the striker who completed his compulsory military service in that structure.
At the same time, Iran is also seeking guarantees that its state symbols, national team, anthem and official representatives will be respected during the tournament. According to AP, Taj said that Iran intends to participate in the World Cup, but without abandoning its beliefs, culture and values. Such wording shows that the Iranian federation is trying to secure participation in the sporting event, but also to avoid situations that would be interpreted in the domestic political context as humiliation or yielding under pressure. In such circumstances, FIFA is in the role of mediator between sporting rules, the host's requirements and the politically very complex relationship between the two countries.
The Canadian incident increased the Iranian side's concern
The immediate reason for the additional nervousness of the Iranian delegation was an incident in Canada. According to reports by Al Jazeera and AP, Canadian authorities did not allow Iranian federation president Mehdi Taj to enter the country ahead of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver. The Iranian delegation claimed that it had valid visas and that it had been subjected to unacceptable treatment by immigration officers at the airport. According to the reports, the Canadian entry ban is connected with Taj's alleged ties to the Revolutionary Guard, which Canada placed on its list of terrorist organizations in 2024.
That event raised the question of whether similar obstacles could also appear in the USA, where Iran must play all its group matches. Although sports delegations are generally subject to special procedures, the case involving Canadian immigration services showed that political and security assessments can directly influence the movement of sports officials. The Iranian side is therefore not only seeking a technical acceleration of visa issuance, but also a clearer framework that would prevent uncertainty at the border or at airports. For a national team that must travel, train and play within a strict tournament schedule, such uncertainty can also have sporting consequences.
The United States and Iran have had no diplomatic relations since 1980, after the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the Islamic Revolution. According to Al Jazeera, the additional background to the current situation is also formed by the conflict that began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, followed by a war in the region and a fragile ceasefire from April 8. In such an environment, the Iranian national team's travel to the USA is not only a matter of sporting competition, but also a test of the ability of FIFA and the host country to separate the organization of the tournament from the broader political crisis.
Iran in Group G opens the tournament against New Zealand
From a sporting point of view, Iran comes to the World Cup as a national team with continuity of appearances, but also with the clear burden of its results history. The Associated Press states that Iran qualified for its fourth consecutive World Cup and seventh overall, but has never advanced from the group stage. According to the same report, the Iranian national team is currently 21st in the FIFA ranking, and in Asian qualifying it lost only one match. This confirms that this is not a national team coming to the tournament by chance, but a stable Asian football power that has regularly appeared on the biggest stage in recent years.
FIFA's schedule for Group G places Iran in three matches of different competitive and political intensity. The first opponent will be New Zealand, a national team entering the tournament from a different football context and against which Iran will seek key points for a possible passage onward. The second match against Belgium will be the toughest test of the group on paper, because Belgium has belonged in the last decade to the circle of European national teams with great international experience. The third match against Egypt in Seattle may be decisive for the standings, and it attracts additional attention because of the political and cultural context that has already been mentioned in reports on security preparations.
The Iranian national team, also known as Team Melli, according to information published by Al Jazeera and local officials in Tucson, should have its base camp in Arizona during the tournament. Kino Sports Complex in Tucson has been confirmed as the Iranian national team's training camp, and Pima County announced that the team's arrival is expected at the beginning of June. Such a choice is logistically important because it gives the national team a stable preparation base between matches in the western USA, although travel to Los Angeles and Seattle will still require careful planning.
A tournament with 48 national teams and enhanced logistics
The 2026 World Cup will be the first with 48 national teams, making it the largest tournament in FIFA history. According to FIFA's explanation, the format with 32 national teams and eight groups has been replaced by a system of 12 groups of four teams. A total of 104 matches will be played, and after the group stage the two best national teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams will advance. The tournament will be held from June 11 to July 19, 2026 in three host countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Such an expanded format significantly increases the scope of organization, from transport and accommodation to security and immigration procedures. For the USA, which will host the largest share of matches, the issue of entry for fans and official delegations has become one of the most sensitive topics ahead of the tournament. The U.S. State Department published special guidelines for travelers planning to come to the World Cup and emphasized that foreign travelers should secure appropriate travel documents and, if they need a visa, apply as soon as possible. The same guidelines emphasize that visa procedures will be conducted with an emphasis on national security and public safety.
The Associated Press also reported that the U.S. administration temporarily suspended the requirement to pay visa bonds for fans from several countries that have qualified for the World Cup, if they have purchased tickets and entered the FIFA Pass system. That decision applied to citizens of Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia, while players, coaches and some staff had already earlier been exempted from such obligations. AP at the same time states that citizens of Iran and Haiti are under special travel restrictions, but that exemptions apply to players, coaches and support staff. This shows that the American side is trying to separate tournament logistics from broader immigration policy, but also that the rules are not applied equally to fans and official sports delegations.
FIFA is trying to prevent politics from overshadowing the tournament
In the case of Iran, FIFA is facing one of the most delicate organizational issues ahead of the start of the competition. On the one hand, it must ensure that a qualified national team can compete under the same sporting conditions as the other participants. On the other hand, it does not have full control over the immigration and security decisions of host countries, especially when it comes to people connected with institutions under sanctions or security designations. That is why the talks with the Iranian federation are important not only for Iran, but also for the credibility of a tournament presented as a global event open to all qualified national teams.
Mattias Grafström's statement that FIFA wants to welcome Iran to the World Cup shows an effort to publicly calm the situation. Still, the fact that he did not provide details about visas indicates that operational agreements have not yet been fully closed or that there is no desire to discuss them before final administrative decisions. After the meeting, Taj sounded cautiously optimistic, but his message that he hopes for participation without problems suggests that the Iranian side does not yet consider all obstacles removed. In practice, the key test will be the issuance of visas to players, coaching staff and necessary members of the delegation before travel to the USA.
The tournament begins on June 11, and according to the official schedule, Iran is due to play its first match four days later. That leaves very little room for administrative delays, especially if some players must undergo additional checks. If the procedures are resolved in time, the talks in Istanbul could remain recorded as a crisis-driven but successful attempt to calm the situation before the start of the competition. If the problems continue, the issue of Iran's participation could become one of the biggest political stories of the first expanded World Cup with 48 national teams.
Sources:
- Reuters / Al Jazeera – report on the meeting between FIFA and the Iranian football federation in Istanbul and the statements by Mattias Grafström and Mehdi Taj (link)
- Associated Press – report on Iranian visa demands, the status of delegation members and the political context of Iran's participation (link)
- FIFA – official schedule of 2026 World Cup matches and Group G matches (link)
- FIFA – explanation of the 2026 World Cup format with 48 national teams and 104 matches (link)
- U.S. Department of State – official guidelines for travelers and visas related to the 2026 World Cup (link)
- Associated Press – report on exemptions from visa bonds for some fans and on special travel restrictions ahead of the World Cup (link)
- Pima County / Visit Tucson – confirmation that Kino Sports Complex in Tucson is the Iranian national team's base training camp (link)