For the first time since 1930… America announces a historic decision on the Iranian team

Iran’s 2026 World Cup players have been granted entry visas to the United States 10 days before the team’s first game at the tournament, a White House official said Friday.

Iran will compete in Group Seven alongside Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand.

Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abu al-Fadl Basandida, said on Thursday that the national team’s players had not yet received visas to enter the United States, but the visas were issued overnight, the official told Reuters.

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After late negotiations, Tehran decided to move the team’s headquarters from Arizona, USA to Tijuana, Mexico, due to visa issues and a growing sense of the need in Iran to minimize the team’s presence in the US.

The team plane is scheduled to land in Tijuana early next Sunday morning. This is the first World Cup since its inception in 1930 that the host country hosts a country at war with it.

Ambassador Basandida said that the United States has never officially stated that it does not want the Iranian national team to reside on its soil.

However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers last Tuesday that the United States would not allow Iran to include individuals with ties to the Revolutionary Guard in its World Cup delegation.

It may refer to a number of national team players who have completed mandatory military service in the Revolutionary Guard.