Iran must leave the US hours after every World Cup match, the official says | World Cup 2026 news

Mehdi Torabi issued a new visa after the previous one when the team returned to Mexico following the New Zealand match.

United States officials have confirmed that the Iranian team must leave the country within hours of their World Cup matches in Los Angeles and Seattle.

The answer from the joint world Cup 2026 came next Tuesday criticizing the treatment of the Iranian team’s visa and stay in the US after their first game.

“We found out that this is what happened,” Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House FIFA Task Force, told the Associated Press news agency.

Team Melli met New Zealand in a politically-charged Group G match in Los Angeles on Monday following months of uncertainty over the team’s participation in the World Cup amid the US-Israel war against Iran.

The Iranian delegation left the US hours after the match at around 8pm local time (03:00 GMT) and returned to their camp in Mexico, sparking criticism over the way the US handled their visas as the team did not get a date to return to their hotel.

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said after the match that his team was ordered to leave the US and return to Mexico a few hours later. Ghalenoei said the team is expected to spend the night in California to speed up recovery after their opening game.

The U.S. also ran into another problem when Iranian winger Mehdi Torabi’s entry visa expired after the first game. Team officials confirmed Tuesday afternoon that they will get him a new, multiple-entry visa to travel to the U.S. to play in the future.

“This matter has been resolved,” the US State Department said.

“As soon as we became aware of the matter, we made every effort to ensure that the player would participate in every game.”

Giuliani said during an interview that aired Monday night on CBS News that some of the Iranian team’s supporters and team officials were denied entry to the US, but all players and coaches received visas.

He also explained the possibility of the Iranian team coming to the US for their games.

“The team will be allowed to come, the day of the match minus one, so the day before the game. They will be asked to leave the day the match ends, so the evening of the game. And they will be able to do it again in Los Angeles. They will be able to do it again in Seattle,” said Giuliani.

When asked about the reason why some staff members and officials of the team were denied entry, Giuliani did not elaborate but referred to what Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said about denying entry to people with direct ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Secretary Rubio made it clear: Anyone who has direct ties to the IRGC will not come to the United States of America, and will not allow the World Cup to be a reason to enter,” Giuliani said. “So I think it makes sense why.”

Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said the team endured five rounds of travel and security on the usually short trip from Tijuana to the Los Angeles area on Sunday.

“I think FIFA should help us more than this,” Taremi said.