Iranian football team still waiting for US visas before 2026 FIFA World Cup

Iran’s football federation says the national team has still not received visas to travel to the United States for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, despite the tournament being less than a month away.

According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, federation chief Mehdi Taj said talks with FIFA would take place within days to seek guarantees over the issue.

“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,” Taj said, according to IRNA.

“We have not received any account from the other side regarding who has been granted visas. No visas have been issued yet,” he added.

The players are expected to complete fingerprinting requirements as part of the visa process.

Taj said the federation is attempting to avoid travel to Ankara by arranging the procedure in Antalya instead.

“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 national football team will be based in Tucson, Arizona during the tournament and are scheduled to open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.