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Iran will be permitted to field its complete squad at the 2026 World Cup, following multiple reports confirming that the team has secured the necessary visas to participate in tournament matches on U.S. soil.
Iran's players and staff submitted their visa applications at the U.S. embassy in Türkiye, per ESPN, as the team shifted their World Cup preparations to Antalya while navigating the logistical hurdles of traveling to North America.
While players, coaches, trainers, and a portion of the support staff appear cleared for the tournament, not every official had received approval as of Saturday, according to Iranian state television. Those reports left it uncertain whether Iranian FA president Mehdi Taj had been granted a visa.
Middle East Conflict Takes Spotlight
Iran's involvement has been a central concern in the buildup to the 2026 World Cup, given the country's internal political tensions, as well as its ongoing disputes with the U.S. and Israel.
The conflict has disrupted most transit through the critical Strait of Hormuz, driving up oil and commodity prices globally—an effect that has rippled into the World Cup, impacting not just Iran's participation but also airfare costs across North America.
Due to visa complications, Iran relocated its originally planned training base from Tucson, Ariz., to Tijuana, Mexico, just below the California border. The team intends to cross into the U.S. exclusively for matches, departing immediately after each game.
U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack appeared to confirm the visa approvals on Friday.
"Proud of our outstanding team at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara for their work processing visas for Iran's national football team on their road to the FIFA World Cup in the United States," he posted to X. "Sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world."
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U.S. Open to Athletes
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week that Iran's delegation would be subject to close scrutiny for any connections to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while affirming that its athletes would be welcome to take part in the competition.
"We have no problem with the athletes, as we stated earlier, or their support staff," Rubio said. "But what we're not going to allow is for them to embed in their delegation a bunch of people that we know have nothing to do with athletics and have ties to the IRGC or things of that nature.
"So we were going to watch that very closely, and we'll continue to watch that very closely, but by and large, I don't anticipate that problem with any other country."
Iran is scheduled to play two group stage fixtures at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, opening against New Zealand on June 15, before taking on Belgium on June 21.
They will wrap up the group stage in Seattle on June 26 against Egypt, a match that local organizers have branded the Pride Match, despite the game featuring two nations with some of the world's most stringent anti-LGBTQIA2S+ legislation.
A USMNT vs. Iran Matchup?
The U.S. men's national team and Iran faced off four years ago at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar during the group stage. This time around, the two sides could potentially cross paths again in the knockout rounds, possibly as early as the round of 32.
Should both the USMNT and Iran finish as runners-up in their respective groups, they would face each other in a winner-takes-all clash at the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.