Iran to complain to FIFA over World Cup travel restrictionsplayInside Iran’s tense World Cup opener (0:45)ESPN News ServicesMultiple AuthorsJun 19, 2026, 06:47 PM ET
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Iran’s soccer federation stated on Thursday it will lodge a complaint with FIFA after its request to travel to Los Angeles two days before Sunday’s World Cup match against Belgium was denied.
Iran’s base camp was moved from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, ahead of the tournament and the team has stated it is unfairly being made to travel to matches the day before games and return immediately after.
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Team Melli made the 127-mile (204-kilometer) charter flight from Tijuana International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport the day before its opening 2-2 draw against New Zealand on Monday, a typically short trip that team captain Mehdi Taremi stated instead took five hours, including security and immigration checks.
Iran returned to Mexico right after the match, which ended about 8 p.m. Pacific. The team had hoped to stave off travel for a day after the game.
Speaking after the game, coach Amir Ghalenoei stated his team is perhaps “the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup.”
The Iran team lines up prior to its opening World Cup game against New Zealand in Inglewood, California. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty ImagesIn a statement, the federation noted Sunday’s earlier kickoff — noon Pacific — and stated it believes “such restrictions are inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams and may negatively affect teams’ preparation processes.””We are the only team that are participating in the World Cup that we are at the host cities just 24 hours and it is not fair,” Iran soccer secretary-general Hedayat Mombeini stated through a translator Friday. “All these limitations on us, it has negative effects on our physical and mental things on our players.”Iran has been forced to comply with what White House FIFA task force head Andrew Giuliani stated were previously mandated rules stemming from the war, but those restrictions also align with FIFA guidelines for general team travel.FIFA’s 2026 World Cup regulations state in Article 18.3 that “each team shall travel from its team base camp to the match venue one day before matchday (MD‑1) and in exceptional cases on MD‑2, and shall return to their team base camp after the match (on MD/MD+1).”The restrictions on the Iran team have not been lifted despite an interim agreement to end the war with the U.S. and Israel. Some team officials and support staff have been unable to secure visas to the U.S., and player Mehdi Torabi had to visit the U.S. consulate in Tijuana to get a new visa after the first match.
Iran will play its final group-stage game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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