Mehdi Taj has revealed that no visas have been issued yet for Iran’s national football team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.
According to Iranian state media, Taj said the Iran Football Federation is set to hold a crucial meeting with FIFA within the next few days to address ongoing visa-related concerns.
“Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we will have a decisive meeting with FIFA. They must give us guarantees because the visa issue has still not been resolved,” Taj said. “We have not received any account from the other side regarding who has been granted visas. No visas have been issued yet,” he added.
Taj explained that Iranian players are currently expected to travel to Ankara for fingerprinting as part of the visa application process. However, the federation is reportedly trying to move the process to Antalya to make travel arrangements easier for the team.
“The players must travel to Ankara for fingerprinting, but we are trying to arrange for this to be done in Antalya so there will be no need to travel to Ankara,” he stated.
The visa uncertainty comes amid continued tensions involving Iran, United States and Israel following months of conflict that reportedly began on February 28, despite a fragile ceasefire said to have taken effect on April 8. Iran and the United States have also lacked formal diplomatic relations since 1980 after the hostage crisis that followed the Iranian Revolution.
Despite the unresolved visa situation, Iran held a farewell ceremony on Wednesday for the national team, popularly known as Team Melli, ahead of the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Iran are expected to camp in Tucson during the competition and will open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15 before taking on Belgium and Egypt in Group G.
