USA defends Iran's World Cup 2026 travel restrictions despite outburst from team

The United States has defended Iran's World Cup travel regime, even as the team threatens to file a FIFA complaint. Iran has been forced to forcefully leave the country early after their matches during the tournament.

In Short

• Iran must reach venues only 24 hours before kick-off under rules
• After matches, the squad returns straight to its Tijuana training camp
• Coach Amir Ghalenoei said Iran faced the hardest conditions in tournament

The United States defended the Iran squad's travel arrangements at the World Cup, despite continuing to assess the situation with the squad. However, Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the tournament, said that the original plan will remains in place despite the outburst from the Asian side. Iran said they would lodge a complaint with FIFA, calling the travel arrangements in place for the squad as unfair.

FIFA WORLD CUP 2026: FULL SCHEDULE

Iran have voiced their frustration over tournament travel regulations that require the squad to arrive at match venues no earlier than 24 hours before kick-off and return immediately to their training camp in Tijuana, Mexico after every fixture. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei criticised the arrangements, claiming his team had faced the toughest conditions of any nation at the World Cup.

Tournament official Giuliani, however, said the situation remained under review and confirmed discussions would take place over the logistics for Iran's final group-stage match against Egypt in Seattle on Friday following Sunday's clash with Belgium in Los Angeles.

"The situation is dynamic," Giuliani said in an exclusive interview in Houston. "We have a plan right now. Tomorrow afternoon (after the match against Belgium) they will take the 27-minute flight back to Tijuana.

"We will see how it goes for match two, and then there will be discussions the day after in terms of what it looks like for match three in Seattle."

Giullani said that the shift in training bases for Iran has helped them reduce travel time.

"The shift from Tucson to Tijuana, I think, was good for everybody involved, certainly it reduces their travel time to Los Angeles too," he said. "Their flight is an hour shorter than it would be from Tucson. And we're happy with the way that things went for match one in Los Angeles.

"I would just point to the fact that all players have received visas. All the coaches have received visas. There are some team officials that have not received visas, and that's because we've seen some derogatory information on them, and this is the balance that we talk about."

PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF THE US

Giullani said that the main aim of the travel restrictions is to protect the best interests of the US and the international stars at the tournament.

"We want to make sure we have this incredible soccer tournament, where people are welcome and enjoy the World Cup, while also making sure that we are not just protecting American citizens, but we're also protecting all those international visitors that are coming here,” he said.

Iran will be playing their second match of the tournament against Belgium on June 21.

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