Team’s complaint comes amid the denial of their request to fly to the United States two days before their next match. Published On 19 Jun 202619 Jun 2026Iran’s 2026 World Cup team will lodge a complaint with FIFA claiming they are being subjected to travel restrictions during the tournament in North America, the Iranian football federation spokesperson said on Thursday.“Despite having submitted its preparation schedule for the tournament well in advance, Iran’s national football team has once again encountered restrictions imposed by the organisers, affecting the implementation of its technical staff’s plans,” the spokesperson said, according to AFP news agency.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIran wanted to fly from their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to the United States two days before their next group match against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday. But the Iranian federation claims its request was turned down. Iran drew 2-2 with New Zealand in their opening World Cup match on Monday in Los Angeles [Patrick T Fallon/AFP]“Given that the game will be played at 12pm local time in Los Angeles, the football federation of Iran requested that the team be allowed to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match,” the spokesman said.“The aim was to provide sufficient time for players to adapt to the match conditions, complete their final training session, and finalise preparations.“Despite the technical reasons presented by the federation, the request was once again denied.”After Iran’s first World Cup game on Monday – in which they drew 2-2 with New Zealand in a politically charged encounter – US officials said that the team will have to leave the country within hours of the full-time whistle at their World Cup group games in Los Angeles and Seattle. Advertisement The response from the World Cup 2026 cohost nation came on Tuesday following criticism of its handling of the Iranian team’s visas and stay in the US after their first game.The Iranian delegation left the US hours after the match in LA ended at about 8pm local time (03:00 GMT) and …
