Iran’s national football team has received a green light for 2026 World Cup qualification as the country’s players have received visas for travel into the United States after months of speculation.
The team will be able to play all three of their group matches, which will take place in the USA due to a dispute between the two countries where Iran is in a battle against one of its World Cup hosts. Speculation began to mount that Iran may not have been allowed to enter the competition because of this, and players faced problems over visas.
Details revealed all of Iran’s 26 players will get the green light to compete after receiving a US visa, although one report stated that in excess of a dozen members of staff are likely to have their visa application rejected due to ongoing political unrest.
Iran Football Federation president Mehdi Taj, among others, may have been one of those affected, after earlier declaring that FIFA was in talks to assist the country with its visa application issues.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his senior representatives are understood to have met on several occasions over the past few months. These meetings have now put the final hurdle in the way of the nation competing in the competition.
All the off-field matters have now been resolved; Iran is free to concentrate on the competition, while their 26-man squad will be free to join up and prepare before traveling to their World Cup base.
