Iran's World Cup campaign faces a serious threat with less than a month to go before the tournament starts in the United States, and not a single player on the national team has received an American visa yet.
An official from Iran's football federation confirmed the delay on Tuesday, raising alarm about whether the team will be able to travel and compete in the 2026 tournament. The visa problem affects the entire 23-man squad that would represent Iran at football's biggest stage.
The timing creates a genuine crisis for the Iranian team. With weeks rather than months remaining before the World Cup begins, the federation has had to accelerate its visa application process. Standard procedures normally take weeks or months to clear, but Iran's players are now in a race against the calendar.
US visa processing for Iranian nationals has historically been complicated by diplomatic tensions between Washington and Tehran. The situation adds another layer of uncertainty to Iran's tournament preparation, which already involves travel logistics and final team preparations.
The Iranian football federation said it is working directly with the US State Department to expedite the visa applications. Officials hope that the sporting nature of the World Cup and FIFA's involvement will help clear the bottleneck, but no guarantees exist.
Other nations competing in the 2026 World Cup have not reported similar visa issues. Iran's predicament stands out as unusual among the 32 teams expected to participate in the tournament, which will be held across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
If the visa situation is not resolved within the next few weeks, Iran may face the prospect of either fielding a different squad or potentially withdrawing from the competition entirely. Neither option is acceptable to the federation, which has spent months preparing this team.
The federation is expected to submit updated paperwork to the US embassy in Tehran within days, pushing for individual visa interviews and approvals before the World Cup kicks off.
