United States officials have confirmed that Iran's national football team will be required to leave American soil within hours of the final whistle at each of their FIFA World Cup 2026 group-stage matches, following a wave of criticism over the treatment of the squad after their opening game. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, stated that Iran's delegation may arrive one day before each match and must depart on the evening of match day itself — a policy he said had been clearly communicated in advance. "The team will be allowed to come in, match day minus one," Giuliani told the Associated Press. "They'll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up."
The controversy erupted after Iran, known as Team Melli, drew 2-2 with New Zealand in a politically charged Group G opener at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood on Monday. The squad, which had been based in Tijuana, Mexico — having relocated there from Arizona in recent weeks — was ordered to return to its camp within hours of the final whistle, denying players the overnight recovery period they had anticipated. Captain Mehdi Taremi said the team had endured five hours of travel and security checks for what is normally a short trip from Tijuana to the Los Angeles area. Coach Amir Ghalenoei described his side as "perhaps the most oppressed team in the World Cup," saying officials had given them no time to recover. A further complication emerged when winger Mehdi Torabi's single-entry visa expired after the first match, unlike the multiple-entry visas issued to his teammates. US State Department officials said the issue was resolved quickly, with Torabi issued a new multiple-entry visa. Giuliani also confirmed that some support staff and federation officials had been denied entry, citing Secretary of State Marco Rubio's stated policy of refusing entry to anyone with direct ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Federation president Mehdi Taj and secretary-general Mohammad Nabi were among those whose visa applications were rejected.
The match itself took place against a backdrop of deep political tension. Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian diaspora community outside Iran, many of whose members fled following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Outside and inside the stadium, the crowd was sharply divided. Some fans cheered the team enthusiastically, while several hundred Iranian Americans demonstrated against the government in Tehran, waving the pre-revolutionary lion-and-sun flag — a symbol of opposition to the Islamic Republic. A Los Angeles judge upheld FIFA's ban on the flag hours before kickoff, and security confiscated some, though dozens made it into the venue. Chants and shouting matches broke out between protesters and supporters, and sheriff's deputies were deployed near the stadium. The match was also played just a day after a preliminary ceasefire agreement was announced to end the US-Israel war against Iran, which began in February and left at least 7,000 dead.
On the pitch, New Zealand twice led through striker Elijah Just, but Iran equalised on both occasions through Ramin Rezaeian and Mehdi Mohebbi, with Rezaeian named man of the match. FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited Iran's dressing room after the game, telling players they were "stronger and greater than all the issues" surrounding them. Iran face Belgium in Los Angeles next Sunday, followed by a match against Egypt, with all four teams in Group G level on one point after the opening round. The restrictions mean Iran's squad will continue shuttling between their Mexican base and the United States for the remainder of their group campaign — an arrangement Taremi called, simply, "a disaster."