Four Iranian World Cup staff win U.S. entry appeals, 11 still blocked

Four members of Iran’s 2026 World Cup delegation won their appeals on Saturday and received U.S. visas, but 11 other staff members remain barred from entering the country and will not be allowed to accompany the team at its matches in the United States.

The dispute follows Iran’s accusation last week that Washington was blocking visas for “essential” people in the team’s professional and logistical setup. Because of the political tension and Iran’s direct confrontation with the United States, the Iranian team moved its training camp and World Cup base to Mexico before the tournament began.

Of the 15 delegation members whose original visa requests were rejected by the U.S., 10 filed renewed applications after arriving in Mexico. Four of those appeals were approved, including an analyst from the technical staff and two officials from the Iranian football federation’s international department. Six more appeals were rejected again, among them FFIRI president Mehdi Taj, one of his deputies, two team managers responsible for day-to-day operations, a communications officer and a security officer. One additional communications staffer did not reapply after the first rejection.

Iran is scheduled to open its tournament on 15 June against New Zealand in Los Angeles, then face Belgium on 21 June and close the group stage against Egypt in Seattle on 26 June. The federation had earlier presented FIFA with 10 demands for participating in the World Cup, including permission for players, coaches and officials who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said players would be welcomed, but people with proven links to the IRGC would face severe entry restrictions.

The political fallout has already affected Iran at FIFA’s annual congress in Vancouver in April, where delegation members were stopped at the Canadian border for the same reasons. The U.S. has also revoked the official ticket allocation for Iranian fans in the group stage, while FIFA says it is working “to maximize opportunities” for Iranian supporters to attend. FIFA has faced wider access issues in this tournament, including bans on fans from several countries and the denial of entry to Somali referee Omar Artan. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, 90, criticized the organization on social media, saying host countries must guarantee national security and unrestricted access for all qualified teams, officials and referees.