Iran 2026 World Cup squad heads to Mexico as US visa dispute erupts

Iran has lashed out at the United States for failing to provide visas to some of its World Cup squad support staff as the players were to leave Turkiye for Mexico.

The row erupted on Saturday, just days before the June 11 start of the 2026 World Cup , which is being jointly hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.

The Iranian players, who have been at a training camp in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya since May 18, received their visas late on Friday, Washington’s envoy to Turkiye Tom Barrack said on X, hailing the work of the US embassy in Ankara in “processing visas for Iran’s national football team”.

But Iran’s embassy to Turkiye hit back on Saturday with a furious response, saying a “large” number of key staff had been denied visas.

“Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?” the Iranian embassy in Turkiye said in a post on X.

“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy added.

Iranian news outlets on Saturday said those who did not receive a visa included Iran’s football federation chief Mehdi Taj as well as Director Mehdi Kharati, the secretary-general of the federation, Hedayat Mombini, and Media Director Mohsen Motamedkia.

Staff members without visas would travel to Mexico with the team while efforts to obtain visas continue, the semiofficial news ⁠agency Tasnim said.