Iran have been called the “most oppressed” team at the 2026 World Cup after their head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, reacted to strict visa conditions that force his squad to fly into the United States a day before each match and leave on the same day. The accusation came after a 2-2 draw with New Zealand in Los Angeles, Iran’s opening game of a tournament co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
Now the White House is considering changing those restrictions. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force, told KOMO TV News in Seattle that “discussions are going on” about the travel schedule for Iran’s third group match against Egypt on 27 June in Seattle. Giuliani said the current restrictions were reasonable for the first two games in Los Angeles, a 30-minute flight from Iran’s base camp in Mexico, but conceded the Seattle flight would be up to three hours.
“White House in talks to ease Iran travel restrictions after head coach called team 'most oppressed' at World Cup.”
“I know that the president wants to be able to really balance the competitive balance on the field while making sure we’re not compromising our national security,” Giuliani said. “We want to make sure the Iranian team has the opportunity to come in and compete. What we have done for the Iranian team has been spectacular and credit to President Trump on this. He ended up signing an executive order to allow the team to come in and play the World Cup. They came in already to play in LA and they will again on the 21st.”
Giuliani did not say if Iran was included in the discussions, and he did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment. Iran, however, has made its position clear. The Iranian team told the BBC that its national team should be allowed to arrive in each host city two days before every match and return to base camp the day after the game “in order to achieve optimal technical and physical preparation”.
“The Football Federation of Iran believes that such restrictions are inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams and may negatively affect teams’ preparation processes,” the team said. “Consequently, the federation will formally express its dissatisfaction and lodge an official complaint with Fifa through the appropriate channels.”
Iran’s next match is against Belgium in Inglewood, Los Angeles on Sunday at 20:00 BST.