Iran’s football chief says no US visas issued for 2026 World Cup, with a decisive FIFA meeting expected soon over guarantees.
TEHRAN: Iran’s football federation chief said on Thursday that no visas had yet been issued for the national team to participate in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, state media reported.
“Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we will have a decisive meeting with FIFA. They must give us guarantees, because the visa issue has still not been resolved,” the state news agency IRNA quoted federation chief Mehdi Taj as saying.
“We have not received any account from the other side regarding who has been granted visas. No visas have been issued yet,” he added.
According to Taj, the players were expected to travel to the Turkish capital Ankara for fingerprinting as part of the visa process.
“The players must travel to Ankara for fingerprinting, but we are trying to arrange for this to be done in Antalya so there will be no need to travel to Ankara,” he said.
Iran has been at war with the United States and Israel since February 28, though a fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, meanwhile, said that a “host country cannot use political disputes, sanctions or its own unilateral domestic policy decisions” to prevent a team from attending the World Cup.
“If the organising body cannot guarantee that all qualified teams, including Iran, can enter the host country without discrimination or restriction… the credibility of the World Cup itself will be undermined,” Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.
Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1980 following the hostage crisis at the US embassy, which came after the Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah.
Iran held a send-off ceremony on Wednesday for the national football team as it prepared to play in the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Iran’s national team, also known as TeamMelli, will be based in Tucson, Arizona during the World Cup.
The Iranians open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15 before lining up against Belgium and Egypt in Group G.
