Iran Football Federation president Mehdi Taj has revealed that Iran’s national team is yet to receive visas for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.
Speaking on Thursday, Taj said the federation would hold a crucial meeting with FIFA within days to seek guarantees over the unresolved visa process ahead of the tournament.
“Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we will have a decisive meeting with FIFA. They must give us guarantees, because the visa issue has still not been resolved,” Taj said, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
He added that no player or official had been issued a visa so far.
“We have not received any account from the other side regarding who has been granted visas. No visas have been issued yet,” he stated.
According to Taj, Iranian players are expected to travel to Ankara, Turkey, for fingerprinting as part of the visa application process, although the federation is trying to arrange for the procedure to be completed in Antalya instead.
“The players must travel to Ankara for fingerprinting, but we are trying to arrange for this to be done in Antalya so there will be no need to travel to Ankara,” he said.
The visa concerns come amid continued tensions between Iran, the United States and Israel, despite a fragile ceasefire that has been in place since April.
Iran and the United States have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1980 following the hostage crisis at the US embassy after the Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s national team, known as Team Melli, held a send-off ceremony on Wednesday ahead of the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The team is expected to camp in Tucson, Arizona, during the competition and will begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15 before facing Belgium and Egypt in Group G.
