Iran will have to leave US hours after every World Cup match, official says

United States officials have confirmed that Iran’s 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.

The response from the World Cup 2026 cohost nation came on Tuesday following criticism of its handling of the Iranian team’s visa and stay in the US after their first game.

“We were clear this was the process,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press news agency.

Team Melli drew with New Zealand in a politically charged Group G game in Los Angeles on Monday following months of uncertainty over the team’s participation in the World Cup amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

The Iranian delegation left the US hours after the match ended at about 8pm local time (03:00 GMT) and returned to their base camp in Mexico, prompting criticism of the US handling of their visas as the team did not get a day to recover at their hotel.

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said after the match that his team had been ordered to leave the US and return to Mexico only a few hours later. Ghalenoei said the team had expected to spend the night in California to maximise the normal recovery process after their opening game.

The US faced further pushback as Iran winger Mehdi Torabi’s entry visa expired after the first game. Team officials confirmed Tuesday afternoon that they had secured him a new, multiple-entry visa allowing him to travel into the US for future matches.

“This issue has been resolved,” the US Department of State said.

“As soon as we became aware of the issue, we worked to ensure that the player can participate in every game.”