Iran hit with strict rule for their FIFA World Cup matches: 'Enter in morning, leave same day'

Iran's ambassador to Mexico Abolfazl Pasandideh has said that the national team of the country will have to enter the United States on the morning of the match day and leave by the evening of the same day for their FIFA World Cup 2026 games.

Members of Iran’s squad for the upcoming mega event were granted visas on Friday. However, some of the team's support staff, including their football federation chief Mehdi Taj, were not issued visas, igniting another diplomatic row between the two warring nations.

Iran's World Cup squad on Saturday left for Tijuana in northwest Mexico, where they will be based for the duration of the tournament. They were originally scheduled to be based in Arizona but switched their camp due to tensions with the United States.

Strict rule for Iran at World Cup

As the Iranian team travels for the World Cup, the squad was told that the visa conditions stipulate that the team must enter and leave US soil on the same day as their matches.

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"We can enter in the morning and we must leave the same day," Iran's envoy Pasandideh told reporters on Saturday.

However, the team's spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi had told local media earlier that this was not the case.

"The visas issued for the national team are multiple-entry visas, and the national team will arrive at the match venue one day before the first game and, for the following games, two days prior to each match," Alavi had said.

Iran, also known as Team Melli, are in Group G and will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21. Their final group game is against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

US and Iran have recently exchanged fires despite a ceasefire in place. This is set to be the first World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with.