New Delhi: The US has eased the travel restrictions on the Iranian national football team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, allowing them an extra day to arrive in the country. The changes came into effect Wednesday, allowing the team an extra day of preparation in Seattle for their last group-stage game against Egypt on Saturday.
“For the Iranian team’s third match in Seattle on 26 June, the team has been permitted to come into the US two days before the match. The Iran team will still be required to leave the day the match ends. The overall security measures and protocol are the same. We remain committed to providing the safest tournament possible for players, staff, and fans alike,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said as reported by The Athletic.
The Iranian team left its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, on Wednesday for Seattle, allowing the team to continue its preparations for the game early Saturday (IST). Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press that this was always the “plan.”
“We were going to look at how the first two movements went, and if they went smoothly, we would extend the extra day in light of the longer travel time,” Giuliani told The Associated Press.
‘Most oppressed team’
The travel restrictions have been a sore point for the Iranian team. The squad has repeatedly raised its concerns over the restrictions imposed on its travel by the US administration. Iran and the US have opened negotiations to formally end the war that began following joint American-Israeli strikes across the West Asian nation at the end of February.
The Iranian football team qualified for the FIFA World Cup and was originally going to stay in Tucson, Arizona. However, the team later requested that their base camp be moved to Mexico, which was granted a couple of weeks ahead of the tournament.
However, despite the team receiving visas with strict limitations—entrance into the US a day before the game, and departure right after the match—several team officials and support staff were barred from entering the country.
The first two games played by Iran were near Los Angeles. The restrictions ensured that the Iranian team did not even have 24 hours on the ground before the match last Saturday against Belgium.
“After the game they said to us ‘you have to leave immediately’. We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best,” Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei had said.
“I think our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup. Our federation isn’t here, our media isn’t here, our management isn’t here,” he added.
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Iran eyes history
The team had requested a day earlier to travel to help acclimatise the players to the on-ground conditions ahead of the game. The travel from Tijuana to Seattle is roughly 1,930 kilometres. Iran’s final game against Egypt is key for the West Asian nation, as it is aiming to break into the knockout rounds for the first time in its history.
While the Iranian players have for the most part made no political comments, they did arrive in Mexico wearing badges bearing the number 168—the number of children killed in Minab in strikes on the first day of the war between the US and Iran. American authorities are conducting investigations into the strike.
Iran is currently second in Group G, with two points. The team has drawn against both New Zealand and Belgium. Its next game is on Friday in Seattle against group leaders Egypt. Egypt is currently on 4 points, after winning their first game at the World Cup earlier this week against New Zealand.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)