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Iran’s soccer team still lacks US visas and is not competing on ‘equal terms’, Tehran’s representative in Mexico says.
Updated on May 28, 2026
Iran’s soccer team still lacks US visas and is not participating in the World Cup “equally” because of difficulties in preparing for the tournament, Tehran’s embassy in Mexico said Thursday.
Abolfazl Pasandideh visited the northwestern Mexican city of Tijuana, where the Iranians have moved their training camps. He was originally scheduled to live in Tucson in the US state of Arizona.
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The ambassador told a press conference that the “northern country” – meaning the United States – had not followed through on its obligations to host the Iranian group.
“We don’t know if they will give the players their visas or not,” he said.
Iran will play their three World Cup matches in two West Coast US cities: Los Angeles and Seattle. The head of the Iran Football Federation has said that there is hope that the players will be granted multiple entry visas.
Pasandideh said: “We are not participating in the World Cup together.
“We haven’t been able to train our team the way we should,” he said, because of the US-Israel war that began on February 28.
On Wednesday, Iranian diplomats visited the stadium where the team is training, a source from Club Tijuana that plays there told news agency AFP. The ambassador also met local security officials, he said.
Iran is scheduled to play in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and on June 21, against Belgium. They then play in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.
