Iran again criticizes U.S. restrictions at the World Cup: Ghalenoei claims the rules are disrupting the national team's preparations
Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei has again raised the issue of the treatment of his national team at the 2026 World Cup, claiming that the combination of visa procedures, movement restrictions and late changes to the travel schedule is making his team's preparation more difficult compared with its competitors. Ahead of the match against Belgium in Los Angeles, scheduled for Sunday, June 21, 2026, Ghalenoei said that the Iranian national team feels unfairly treated, but at the same time said he expects FIFA next week to succeed in persuading U.S. authorities to ease some of the measures. According to an Associated Press report, the Iranian staff believe the restrictions have reduced their time for training and recovery in the host city. Ghalenoei emphasized that the players feel the support of the Iranian people and that they are also playing for their compatriots who have suffered, with the message that sport should not become an extension of political disputes. The case has again opened the broader question of the organization of a tournament being played for the first time in an expanded format with 48 national teams and in three host countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Dispute over arrival in Los Angeles before the match with Belgium
According to a statement Ghalenoei gave through an interpreter, Iran asked to travel to Los Angeles earlier so that the team would have a fuller schedule of training and adjustment before the match with Belgium. The Associated Press states that Iran's request to travel on Friday was rejected, so the national team returned to the Los Angeles area only on Saturday, which, according to the head coach, left less than 16 hours of stay before the match. Ghalenoei said the staff had counted on 24 hours in the host city, but that because of the shorter period he had to shorten training. In his interpretation, this is a logistical restriction that directly affects sporting preparation, especially because the match against Belgium is being played in an earlier daytime slot according to local time. The Iranian Football Federation had earlier stated that such a schedule, together with travel between the base in Tijuana and U.S. host cities, can have a negative physical and psychological effect on the players.
In his public appearance, Ghalenoei also resorted to a moral argument. According to the Associated Press report, he said he was "very happy" that the Iranian people stand behind the national team, but that the behavior toward the team had hurt fans and the wider public in Iran. He added that he hopes for peace and that such treatment will not become common practice at World Cups. In the same address, he also called on other head coaches at the tournament not to remain silent if they believe that one national team does not have equal conditions. At the same time, he stressed that Iran, according to his interpretation, did not come to the United States to conduct a political debate, but to play football, yet it cannot pretend that logistical problems do not exist.
The national team is based in Mexico, but plays matches in the U.S.
Ahead of the tournament, Iran established its base in Tijuana, Mexico, while all of the national team's matches in Group G are scheduled at U.S. stadiums. According to reports by the Associated Press and The Guardian, the Iranian delegation initially had plans for a different organization of preparations, but visa issues and the security context led to the team traveling across the border for matches. After the first match against New Zealand in Los Angeles, which ended 2:2 on June 15, the Iranian team returned to Mexico immediately after the match, although the staff had expected the possibility of staying in Los Angeles for recovery. Captain Mehdi Taremi had previously publicly warned that such a rhythm exhausts the players and disrupts preparation, and the Iranian federation announced it would address FIFA because of what it claims are unequal conditions.
On the other hand, the Associated Press stated in a separate analysis that the model of traveling the day before a match is not itself unusual at the 2026 World Cup. According to that report, the competition rules provide that national teams generally travel from the base camp to the match city the day before the match, and in exceptional cases two days before, and that they return to the base after the match or the next day. The difference in Iran's case, according to the same source, lies in the combination of the sporting schedule, additional security and immigration checks, and the fact that some officials and members of support staff did not receive entry visas for the United States. U.S. officials, among them Andrew Giuliani from the White House World Cup task force, had earlier claimed that the rules were known and agreed in advance, while the Iranian side believes that such a regime undermines the principle of equal conditions.
Visa policy as the most sensitive part of the story
The background of the dispute goes beyond the football schedule itself. In June 2025, the White House published a presidential proclamation which, citing national security and public safety, suspended the entry of citizens of several countries into the United States, among them Iran. In the official text of the proclamation, Iran is listed as a country under a special regime, and U.S. authorities justify the restrictions with alleged deficiencies in security screening and information sharing. In practice, exceptions existed for major sporting events for qualified athletes and part of accredited staff, but that exception did not automatically resolve the status of all members of the Iranian delegation, support staff, media and fans.
According to available reports, players of the Iranian national team received permits to enter in order to take part in the tournament, but some officials and staff faced refusals or additional procedures. The Associated Press also reported that Iranian player Mehdi Torabi, after the first match, had to resolve the issue of a new multiple-entry visa at the U.S. consulate in Tijuana, after which the State Department said the case had been resolved. Such details further strengthened the impression of uncertainty in the Iranian camp, although U.S. authorities insist that decisions are based on individual security checks and not on sporting punishment of the national team. It is precisely this difference in interpretation that makes the dispute more difficult: for Washington it is a security and immigration regime, while Tehran and the Iranian Football Federation describe it as political pressure spilling over into the competition.
Sporting context: Group G is completely open
FIFA data on Group G show that Iran is playing Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand in the first phase. After the first round, all four national teams had one point each, because Belgium and Egypt drew 1:1, while Iran and New Zealand played 2:2 in Los Angeles. In that match, according to FIFA's report, Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi scored for Iran, while New Zealand twice led through Elijah Just. The result left the group completely open, so the match against Belgium carries great competitive weight for both national teams. Belgium, which according to FIFA's presentation of the group is one of the European quality leaders in that group, is seeking a victory after the opening draw, while Iran is trying to keep its chances of progressing to the knockout stage alive.
In such circumstances, every logistical difficulty becomes more important than it would be in an isolated administrative dispute. The Iranian staff claim that the shorter period of stay in the match city means less time for training, regeneration, meetings and adjustment to the daily rhythm. FIFA's expanded tournament format, with 48 national teams and 104 matches in 16 cities, had already raised questions before the start of the competition about travel burdens, distances and conditions for different teams. The Associated Press, meanwhile, warns that other national teams also cover long distances and that the travel schedule is not necessarily unique to Iran, but Iran's objection is aimed at additional restrictions arising from the visa and security regime, not only at the distance between the base and the stadium.
FIFA between tournament rules and political pressure
In situations like this, FIFA finds itself between two principles: the need to respect the laws of the host country and the obligation to ensure comparable conditions for all participants in the competition. According to media reports, the Iranian Football Federation announced an official complaint to FIFA over the rejected request for the team to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match with Belgium. The federation claims that this threatens the equality of participants, while the U.S. side, according to Associated Press reports, believes the conditions were known before the competition. Ghalenoei has now expressed hope that FIFA will nevertheless reach an agreement with U.S. authorities and enable a less restrictive regime, especially if Iran continues the competition after the group stage.
The broader problem for FIFA is reputational. The World Cup is presented as a global sporting event that should include national teams, fans and media from around the world, but organizing it in a country with a restrictive visa regime toward certain countries necessarily raises political questions. This does not mean that a sports federation can bypass state laws, but it is expected to ensure clear protocols already in the phase of awarding and preparing the tournament. In Iran's case, according to available information, the greatest uncertainty does not concern the players' right to compete itself, but the scope of movement, support staff, media, fans and the ability to plan training without late administrative changes.
Ghalenoei's message to other head coaches
One of the most striking parts of Ghalenoei's remarks was his call to other head coaches to react to what he sees as injustice. According to the Associated Press report, he said he would speak out if he saw another national team being treated in a similar way. That appeal is not only an emotional message, but also an attempt to move the dispute from the bilateral Iran-U.S. framework into a broader sporting framework of equality of conditions. In practice, however, head coaches of other national teams rarely publicly enter sensitive political and administrative disputes during tournaments, especially when they are in the middle of their own preparations. Ghalenoei's statement is therefore unlikely to immediately change the behavior of other staffs, but it increases public pressure on FIFA and the organizers.
The Iranian head coach is careful to stress that his team's focus is on football. This is an important message because Iran is appearing at this tournament in a highly politicized context, and every statement about visas and travel quickly gains a diplomatic dimension. For the players, however, the concrete consequences are very practical: departure time, the duration of border procedures, the possibility of rest after a match, access to support staff and predictability of the schedule. If these elements are unstable, athletes and coaches claim that preparation for the match is disrupted, regardless of the legal explanation for the restrictions.
What follows after the match with Belgium
After the clash with Belgium, Iran plays Egypt in Seattle in the final round of Group G, according to the 2026 World Cup schedule. This means a new journey from the Mexican base to a U.S. host city and a new test of how flexible the movement regime will be. If FIFA and U.S. authorities truly ease some of the measures, as Ghalenoei hopes, the Iranian staff could get more room to plan training and recovery. If the regime does not change, complaints will likely follow the national team until the end of its appearance at the tournament, especially if Iran secures passage to the knockout stage and has to play new matches in the United States.
For now, there is no official confirmation that the restrictions will be changed, and it is not clear to what extent any possible easing would apply to players, staff, officials or media. According to available information, FIFA is trying to maintain the operational continuity of the tournament, while U.S. authorities remain of the view that security checks and visa rules cannot be fully subordinated to the sporting schedule. The Iranian side, meanwhile, claims that the World Cup must be played under conditions that do not put one national team at a disadvantage. Between these two positions, a dispute is unfolding that has become, at least as much as the matches in Group G, one of the most followed stories of Iran's appearance at the tournament.
Sources:
- Associated Press / AP News – report on Iranian complaints, travel schedule, competition rules and reactions of U.S. officials (link)
- NDTV Sports / Associated Press – Amir Ghalenoei's statements ahead of the Iran – Belgium match and description of the latest travel restrictions (link)
- FIFA – overview of Group G at the 2026 World Cup and basic information on national teams and schedule (link)
- FIFA – report from the Iran – New Zealand 2:2 match and information on scorers in the first round of Group G (link)
- The White House – presidential proclamation of June 4, 2025, on restricting the entry of citizens of certain countries into the United States (link)
- The Guardian – report on the announcement of Iran's complaint to FIFA because of restrictions ahead of the match with Belgium (link)