Iran’s Hajsafi Criticizes FIFA After U.S. Visa Delays Block Team Staff From World Cup

Iran’s soccer team arrived in Mexico for training ahead of the World Cup, with Iran defender Ehsan Hajsafi criticizing FIFA after some members of the entourage were still lacking U.S. visas as the tournament approaches.

Hajsafi said, "Personally, however, I do have a complaint about FIFA. Why did it take so long?" while adding that visas were issued only to players and a few coaching staff.

Al Jazeera

The team’s participation has been complicated by the Iran war, and problems with processing visas earlier led Iran to move its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, on the border with California.

Hajsafi said, "That includes the team manager, the executive director and the media director," naming roles he said were not granted visas.

Iran plays its first two games in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium six days later, then heads to Seattle to face Egypt on June 26.

Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abu al-Fadl Basendideh, said the Iranian national team was told it must enter the United States and depart on the same day as its group-stage matches in the 2026 World Cup.

Basendideh told reporters, "We can enter in the morning, and we must depart on the same day," describing the rule as applying to the team’s three group-stage matches.

An-Nahar

The BBC reported that all three of Iran’s group-stage matches will be held in the United States, but the players and the coaching staff were informed they must travel by air to and from the country on the day of the match.

The BBC also said Iran claims that "15 officials and another member of the coaching staff had their visas permanently denied," calling it political interference in sport in its ugliest form.

Washington, the BBC added, said Iran would not be allowed to exploit the tournament "to ferry terrorists into the United States under false pretenses."

With the World Cup scheduled to begin next Thursday, the BBC and other outlets framed the dispute around visa access and match-day travel, while FIFA and U.S. authorities pointed to immigration procedures and security concerns.

“The Iranian national football team, participating in the 2026 World Cup, arrived in Mexico amid an ongoing dispute over visas and entry into the American stadiums where its matches will be played”

BBC

Masrawy said FIFA rejected Tehran’s request to move games to venues in Canada or Mexico after the outbreak of the Iran war, leaving Iran to play three group-stage matches on U.S. soil with an overnight-stay ban.

In statements to Axios, Trita Parsi said the situation requires everything to proceed on the scheduled timetable, warning that any glitch with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration could reflect negatively on the United States’ reputation.

The BBC reported that Washington said Iran would not be allowed to use the tournament to "ferry terrorists to the United States under false pretenses," while the BBC described the visa denials as political interference in sport.

Separately, the BBC and Al Jazeera coverage also pointed to the broader tournament context of travel restrictions, including the U.S. blocking Somali international referee Omar Abd al-Qadir Artan from entering the United States ahead of the 2026 World Cup.