Last-minute visas and moving training camp: Iran’s road to the World Cup

More than a year later, Iran’s participation has become one of the most complex stories of the tournament – scheduled to play at a host nation whose joint-military strikes with Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader and sparked a conflict which is ongoing.

Under this cloud of war, the Iranian football team faced numerous challenges, including where they would be based for the tournament, and if they could secure visas into the US.

Iran’s World Cup visa saga

Iran was one of the first teams to qualify for the tournament, and US visas for the players were only approved on Friday.

However, visas have been denied for several members of staff, including the head of Iran’s football federation, Mehdi Taj.

The US State Department told the BBC that the visas required for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including those for players and essential support staff, had been issued. However, it added that it would not allow the Iranian team to “abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences”.

Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, says the national team has been notified that, under the conditions of its visas, players must enter and leave US territory on the same day as their matches.

Iran has moved its World Cup base camp from the United States to Tijuana, Mexico, amid the war and after Fifa approved the change. The team had originally planned to be based in Tucson, Arizona.

All three of Iran’s group-stage matches will be played in the United States, against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, and against Egypt in Seattle.

More than 40 years of tension

Relations between Iran and the US have been hostile for more than four decades. Since the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran and the hostage crisis that followed in 1979, the two countries have had no formal diplomatic relations.

Football has often provided one of the few opportunities for direct engagement between the two countries.

The most famous encounter came at the 1998 World Cup in France, when Iran defeated the United States 2-1 in a match that carried enormous political symbolism. Dubbed by some as the “Mother of All Games” because of the political backdrop, the fixture drew global attention and became one of the most memorable matches in World Cup history.

Before kick-off, Iranian players presented white roses to their American counterparts as a gesture of peace, in a moment widely seen as transcending politics. The two teams met again at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the United States won 1-0 to progress to the knockout stage.

The possibility of an Iran-US meeting later in the 2026 tournament is also adding to the intrigue.

Under the World Cup’s expanded format, the two sides could face each other in the knockout stage. Such a match would carry significance far beyond football, given the war between the two countries.

Football once united Iran – now it’s less clear

Amid the logistical issues, the relationship between the national football team and sections of the Iranian public appears more complicated than at previous tournaments.

The national side has traditionally been one of the few institutions capable of generating support across political and social divides. During the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, the team attracted widespread backing from supporters across the political spectrum.

That changed ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which took place amid nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody and the authorities’ crackdown on demonstrators.

The team found itself at the centre of a political debate, with some Iranians expecting players to show solidarity with protesters and others insisting football should remain separate from politics.

The 2026 World Cup comes just six months after a major crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran, during which human rights groups say thousands of people were killed.

Some supporters continue to see the team as a symbol of national pride regardless of politics. Others have become increasingly critical, arguing that the side is too closely associated with state institutions and should not be viewed separately from the country’s political establishment.

That does not mean support for Team Melli has disappeared. Football remains by far Iran’s most popular sport and millions are expected to follow the team’s progress in North America.

But as Iran prepares for another World Cup, the level of national consensus that once accompanied major tournaments appears less certain than in the past.

On the pitch, Iran will hope to achieve something they have never managed before.

Despite qualifying for seven World Cups, they have never progressed beyond the group stage. The expanded 48-team format offers fresh opportunities, and Iran will believe reaching the knockout rounds is an achievable objective.

Whether football remains the dominant story is another question.

World Cups have often reflected the political realities of their time. Yet it is difficult to recall another team arriving at a tournament under such a combination of diplomatic isolation, military tensions, visa uncertainty and political division among sections of its own support.