Iran's 2026 World Cup team will lodge a formal complaint with FIFA, alleging they are being unfairly restricted in their travel during the tournament in North America, the Iranian football federation spokesperson said on Thursday.
"Despite having submitted its preparation schedule for the tournament well in advance, Iran's national football team has once again encountered restrictions imposed by the organisers, affecting the implementation of its technical staff's plans," the spokesperson told AFP.
Iran wanted to fly from their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to the United States two days before their next group match against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday. However, the federation claims the request was denied.
"Given that the game will be played at 12pm local time in Los Angeles, the football federation of Iran requested that the team be allowed to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match," the spokesman said. "The aim was to provide sufficient time for players to adapt to the match conditions, complete their final training session, and finalise preparations."
After Iran's opening World Cup match on Monday—a 2-2 draw with New Zealand in a politically charged encounter—US officials stated that the team must leave the country within hours of the final whistle for their group games in Los Angeles and Seattle. This policy has drawn criticism, with the Iranian delegation forced to return to Mexico immediately after Monday's match, not even having a day to recover at their hotel.
The US administration has defended its stance. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, said Iran had been informed in advance that they would only be allowed to enter the US the day before each match. "The team will be allowed to come in, match day minus one... They'll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up, so the evening of the match. And they'll be able to do that again in Los Angeles," Giuliani told CBS News. He added the same procedure would apply for Iran's final group game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
Iran, placed in Group G, kicked off their campaign amid months of uncertainty over their participation due to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.