Visa delays and entry denials disrupt 2026 FIFA World Cup preparations

Several national teams and match officials have encountered entry refusals and extended screening as US immigration enforcement complicates the tournament's build-up

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just days from kicking off on June 11 across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, visa problems and border incidents have become a major storyline heading into the tournament. Squads and officials from Iran, Iraq, Senegal, and Uzbekistan have all run into trouble getting into the US, ranging from outright visa refusals to prolonged detention at airports, as reported by the Daily Sabah.

The friction stems from a fundamental tension: US immigration enforcement priorities are clashing with the open-borders spirit of a tournament that has grown to 48 nations for the first time. FIFA's position has been that host governments have sovereign authority over who enters their borders, but that stance has not gone down well with the delegations caught up in the process.

Iran pushed its training camp across the border

Iran's squad has been hit the hardest. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei and the players eventually made it into the country, but roughly 13 support staff and administrators had their visa applications rejected after lengthy vetting.

That left the team with no choice but to move its entire pre-tournament training operation from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. The problem is that Iran's Group G matches against Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand are all scheduled on US soil, meaning the squad now has to travel across the border every time it plays before returning to train in another country. Iranian officials have called the situation politically driven, while US authorities have maintained it was routine screening.

Iraq's comeback marred by airport detentions

Iraq is playing in the World Cup for the first time since 1986, but the excitement around that milestone has been dampened by what happened at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Forward Aymen Hussein was pulled aside upon landing and held for close to seven hours while officials inspected his phone and questioned him. People within the Iraqi delegation said the ordeal shook the squad at a time when the focus should have been entirely on football.

That was not an isolated case either. The team's photographer was held separately for over 10 hours, only to be turned away and put on a flight home.

First Somali World Cup referee turned away at the border

Perhaps the most striking individual case involves referee Omar Artan, who FIFA had appointed as a match official for the tournament. Had he taken the pitch, he would have been the first Somali referee to officiate at a World Cup. Artan had also been recognized as CAF Referee of the Year in 2025.

According to Daily Sabah, he landed in Miami but was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection, who cited vetting concerns. Artan was not allowed to proceed and was reportedly flown to Türkiye. His involvement in the tournament is now over. The incident has sparked a wider conversation about what happens when national security screening overrides FIFA's officiating selections.

Senegal and Uzbekistan put through extensive checks

Both Senegal and Uzbekistan experienced heavy-handed screening on arrival in the US. Senegalese players were checked individually at the airport in a process that drew attention on social media. Uzbekistan's delegation went through a similar experience during a pre-tournament camp in New York, where police dogs were brought in to inspect the squad as part of heightened security protocols.

Neither country reported visa denials, but the footage and accounts that spread online led to questions about whether these procedures were being applied equally to all 48 participating nations or selectively to certain delegations.

The bigger picture for the tournament

These cases sit within a larger debate about how US immigration policy is being applied to international sporting events. On paper, provisions exist to expedite entry for athletes and officials, but in practice, the experience has been wildly inconsistent depending on nationality.

FIFA has maintained its hands-off position on visa matters, but that approach has attracted growing criticism. Several commentators and football officials have argued that the governing body has a responsibility to push harder behind the scenes to guarantee that every participating nation can enter the host country without obstruction.

What started as a series of isolated travel complications now touches on fundamental questions about whether a 48-nation tournament can function fairly when some teams face significantly greater barriers to entry than others.