Iran slams US 'discriminatory treatment' over World Cup visa refusals

While visas were granted to the players for matches to be played on American soil, Tehran claims soccer officials, support staff were excluded

Iran on Saturday slammed World Cup host the United States over what it called “discriminatory treatment” in not granting visas for some members of the Iranian delegation to the tournament.

“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 Turkey said in a post on X, referring to an earlier announcement by US envoy Tom Barrack that visas had been granted to players.

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

On Friday, Barrack praised the US embassy in Ankara over its “work processing visas for Iran’s national football team” after the head of the Iran Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, said on the same day that the Iranian delegation had submitted passports for visas.

But reports on Saturday from Iranian media, including sports outlet Varzesh3, said members of the delegation, including Taj, along with executive members and analysts, have not been granted visas.

On Friday, Taj told state television that his “assessment is that all visas will be issued in full, and there most likely will not be any problem in this regard.”

President of the Iranian Football Federation Mehdi Taj speaks during a ceremony at Milad Tower in Tehran, on November 8, 2022. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran’s ability to participate in the World Cup was further called into question after Taj was refused entry to Canada for the FIFA Congress in Vancouver last month because of his links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This year’s World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19 and will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. All three of Iran’s group matches are in the US.

Of the three host countries, Mexico is the only one that does not classify the IRGC as a terrorist entity, whereas the US and Canada have both made it clear they will not admit people with links to the elite military force.

The Iranians relocated their World Cup base, which was initially planned to be in Tucson, Arizona, to the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana. The players are scheduled to land in Tijuana early Sunday morning.

Iran is due to play their first Group G match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on Egypt in Seattle.

Iran’s players pose for a team picture ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia zone qualifiers group A football match between Iran and the North Korea at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran on June 10, 2025. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

The Iran war has turned the World Cup — the biggest global sporting event — into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.

It is the first World Cup, since its inception in 1930, in which a host nation is set to receive a country it is at war with.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its World Cup delegation individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the powerful branch of Iran’s armed forces tasked with defending the Islamic Republic’s regime and its ideology.

That could apply to several players in the Iran squad who have completed mandatory military service with the group.