As the Iranian men’s national football team makes its final preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, a top Iranian football official has voiced strong confidence in the governance and security protocols laid out by global football’s governing body, even as lingering uncertainty over U.S. entry visas casts a faint shadow over the team’s preparations.
The Iranian squad touched down in Turkey on Monday to wrap up their pre-tournament training camp, a multi-week stay that will serve as their final tune-up before traveling to North America for the world’s biggest sporting event. This World Cup carries unusual geopolitical weight for Iran: the United States, one of the three co-hosts of this year’s tournament, has been engaged in active military conflict against Iran alongside Israel since late February, a confrontation that has ignited widespread instability across the Middle East.
Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, vice-president of the Iranian Football Federation and director of the national team program, shared his assessment with reporters on the sidelines of the team’s Turkish training session on Tuesday. Nabi insisted that all logistics for Iran’s participation would follow the formal rules and frameworks set by FIFA. “Everything will proceed properly according to the protocols and what FIFA has stipulated,” he said.
Nabi noted that U.S. organizers have already established dedicated working groups to handle tournament logistics, including a specialized security committee that coordinates closely with FIFA to manage safety for all participating delegations. Drawing on Iran’s history of competing in multiple previous World Cup tournaments, Nabi said the federation has full familiarity with how these security and operational systems function at the global event. “In past years we’ve experienced all of this and we’re fully informed about how these security committees operate at every World Cup we’ve participated in. In this regard, we’re very confident and we have a clear plan,” he added.
One key unresolved issue remains: entry visas for the Iranian squad and staff. Iranian officials confirmed earlier that none of the delegation have yet received their U.S. travel authorization, and the team is planning to submit visa applications through the Canadian embassy in Turkey, where they are currently based. Nabi acknowledged that there is no guarantee all members of the delegation will be granted entry.
However, he pointed to binding FIFA rules that place responsibility on host nations to accommodate qualified teams. “One of the rules that applies to the host country is that they must provide guarantees, according to FIFA’s statutes and the regulations of the competition. One of their commitments is the visas: they have to grant the necessary visa facilities to all the teams that have qualified for the World Cup,” Nabi explained. He added that FIFA has already taken steps to ensure the United States fulfills its obligations to facilitate entry for Iranian team personnel.
Iran has been drawn into Group G for the 2026 tournament, with a scheduled opening match against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles. The team will face Belgium in the same city next, before wrapping up their group stage play against Egypt in Seattle. Throughout the tournament, the Iranian delegation will be based in Tucson, Arizona, for their training and accommodation.