TIJUANA, Mexico – In a growing dispute ahead of a key World Cup group stage match, the Iranian Football Federation announced Thursday it will submit an official complaint to FIFA over what it calls unfair and disruptive travel restrictions imposed on the national team by tournament organizers. The conflict centers on entry rules for the United States that have blocked the team from following its pre-planned preparation schedule for Sunday’s match against Belgium in Los Angeles.
According to federation representatives, Iran submitted its full tournament preparation timeline months in advance, outlining a plan to travel from its current base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to Los Angeles two days before Sunday’s kickoff. The early travel request was rooted in practical technical needs: with the match scheduled to start at 12 p.m. local Los Angeles time (1900 GMT), the team wanted extra time for players to acclimate to the local time zone, complete final on-site training sessions, and lock in game-day preparations. Despite the federation’s detailed technical justifications for the request, it was ultimately rejected.
“This is not the first time our team has faced unnecessary restrictions that derail the plans our technical staff has put in place,” a federation spokesman stated. “We will formally communicate our dissatisfaction and submit our official complaint through FIFA’s designated channels.”
This is not the first friction Iran has encountered during its 2026 World Cup preparation in North America. Following the team’s opening group stage match, a 2-2 draw against New Zealand in Los Angeles, Iranian officials expressed anger that the squad was required to leave the United States the same night the game concluded. The team also faced major disruptions before the tournament even began: amid existing regional tensions, Iran was forced to relocate its pre-tournament training base from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana just weeks before kickoff after as many as 15 senior team officials were denied US entry visas.
US officials have pushed back against Iran’s claims of unfair treatment, saying all entry rules were communicated to the Iranian delegation long before the tournament got underway. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, confirmed to CBS News that the established protocol for Iran’s matches is clear: the team will only be granted entry to the US one day before a scheduled match, and must depart the country the same evening the match concludes.
“This same procedure will apply to all of Iran’s group stage matches in the United States, including their final group game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26,” Giuliani added. The US position maintains that all entry requirements were disclosed in advance, and the Iranian federation has no grounds for complaint over the implemented restrictions.
The dispute comes as Iran already navigated a deeply disrupted pre-tournament buildup, exacerbated by ongoing conflict in the Middle East that has added layers of complexity to the team’s preparations for the global football competition.