The long-standing political tension between the United States and Iran, ongoing for more than forty years, is now showing signs of spilling over into football. With the U.S. serving as one of the hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Iran participating in the tournament, early signs of conflict have already surfaced. Iran has now warned that it may boycott next week’s World Cup draw ceremony scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C.
A report by the Tehran Times states they requested permission to send a seven-member delegation to the draw. However, U.S. authorities approved visas for only four of them. Although the national team’s head coach received clearance, Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj was denied a U.S. visa.
Iran Calls U.S. Decision “Political Interference”
Federation spokesperson Mehdi Alavi expressed strong dissatisfaction with the situation, saying,
“𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑭𝑰𝑭𝑨 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔.”
He further added that Iran has also contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino, stressing that the U.S. visa decision is “purely political” and urging FIFA to intervene. Alavi confirmed that discussions are ongoing in hopes of finding a solution before the event.
The World Cup draw is set to take place on December 5 at the Kennedy Center, with U.S. President Donald Trump expected to oversee the ceremony.
Iran is preparing for its fourth straight World Cup appearance and seventh overall. Despite their experience, they have never advanced beyond the group stage. Their most iconic moment came in 1998, when they defeated the United States in a historic match.
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