Iran national team granted visas to enter United States ahead of World Cup

The Iran national team is officially cleared to play in the 2026 World Cup after receiving visas to enter the United States. A White House official told multiple outlets on Friday that members of the team have been granted visas, just ten days before Iran's group stage matches in the U.S.

Mehdi Taj, the head of Iran's football federation, said Friday morning that the Iranian players had submitted their passports to the U.S. embassy in Ankara, Türkiye, to complete the visa process, via Al Jazeera. The visas were granted overnight, per Reuters.

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Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Türkiye, seemingly confirmed the approval in a post on X, noting the embassy's role in processing the visas.

The visa delay comes amid the ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran, which began in late February. The Iranian team, who qualified for the tournament in 2025, has not wavered at playing in the tournament despite pressure from the White House.

In March, President Donald Trump suggested that Iran should not participate, citing safety concerns; the team responded by saying that the tournament is governed by FIFA, "not any individual or country."

The team did opt to change where it would be based during the tournament, though, moving its base camp from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico last month. At the time, Taj said that the change, which was later approved by FIFA, was made because of concerns about visa issues.

Although all 26 players on Iran's roster were approved, visa applications from many staff members, including coaches and support staff, were rejected, per The New York Times. Taj's visa was reportedly among those that were rejected.

After spending the past few weeks in Türkiye, Iran is set to fly to Spain on Saturday before heading to Tijuana, where they already have their visas organized, per Al Jazeera. It is unclear whether the staff members whose U.S. visas were rejected will be able to join the team in Mexico.

Iran plays its first group stage match on June 15, facing New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., as part of Group G. The team's second match, also Inglewood, will be against Belgium, before closing out the group stage against Egypt in Seattle's Lumen Field.