The Iranian national team, currently training in Tijuana, Mexico, will be able to enter the U.S. the day before each of its three World Cup matches, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.
Media reports over the weekend quoted Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, as saying the Iranian team would have to enter and leave the US on the same day it played, raising questions about logistics and whether it would affect team performance.
It was not as if Iran would be forced to arrive the same day as the matches, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said. “These statements are not true,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Thanks to the generosity of President (Donald) Trump, the Iranian team will be able to arrive the day before their matches.”
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The ambassador, talking to Reuters in Tijuana on Monday through an interpreter criticized U.S. officials for denying visas to some of the Iranian soccer federation’s staff, but said the granted visas did not prevent them from staying overnight.
“Their visas don’t specify anything about them having to leave at a certain time,” he said. After weeks of uncertainty, the US granted visas to all players on Friday, just ten days before their first match.
But several members of the Iranian squad were denied visas, including “key managerial and administrative members,” the Iranian Football Federation said. They include the team manager, two team analysts, the media director and a representative of the Foreign Ministry, the Iranian embassy in Mexico said. Iran will face New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The players were originally scheduled to train in Arizona, but that was changed after the US and Israel started a war against Iran in February.
Trump said in March that Iran was welcome to participate in the World Cup, but that he did not believe it was appropriate for the Iranian team to remain in the US “for their own lives and safety.”
Published on June 9, 2026
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