Iran’s football federation said on Tuesday, June 9, that the United States has revoked its allocation of tickets for the national team’s three group games at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, leaving supporters who had already bought seats and booked travel unable to attend. The tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, kicks off on Thursday, June 11.
The federation accused the co-host of acting to obstruct the presence of Iranian fans at the three US-hosted group matches. The complaint came three days before Iran’s opening fixture, a Group G match against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Rams’ stadium in Inglewood on June 15. Iran is then scheduled to face Belgium in Inglewood on June 21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26, with all three group games set for US soil.
Iran’s Federation Says Fans Are Locked Out
The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) said in a Tuesday statement that it had begun selling tickets to supporters for the three group games after receiving its allocation from FIFA, with some fans having already made “the necessary plans to attend the matches.” The federation invoked FIFA’s standard rule that each participating country is entitled to 8% of tickets for each of its matches, distributed through official channels to supporters.
With less than three days remaining until the start of the 2026 World Cup, the United States has once again acted to obstruct the presence of Iranian supporters at the stadiums hosting the national team’s three group stage matches.
The federation’s full Tuesday statement on the ticket revocation said the allocation was withdrawn after sales had already begun, leaving fans who had booked travel to the three US venues with nowhere to enter.
The federation described the revocation as “contrary to the spirit governing international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries” and called on FIFA and tournament organizers “to uphold the principles of neutrality, fairness, and established regulations.” It stopped short of naming the body that took the decision.
FIFA Says It Is Working on a “Compliant” Fix
FIFA, the body that allocates the tickets, did issue a response after the federation’s statement became public. The organization said it was working with the FFIRI to “identify compliant solutions that maximise opportunities for Iranian supporters to attend matches,” according to a report on the working-to-resolve statement and the OFAC mechanism behind it.
Behind the federation’s complaint sits a US regulatory hurdle: Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) restrictions, which limit the ability of US-based entities to process certain transactions involving Iran. The sanctions regime, enforced by the US Treasury, has effectively blocked Iranian purchases of the country’s own ticket allocation. If no resolution is reached, the BBC reported, the Iran allocation would go back on general sale.
Inside the United States, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) called the move “petty and vindictive.” The FFIRI itself said the situation “raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the world’s biggest football event.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino set out a different standard in 2017, when US officials were preparing the joint Canada-Mexico-US co-hosting bid that was awarded the following year, a report on Infantino’s 2017 standard on fan access noted. “It’s obvious when it comes to FIFA competitions as well [that] any team, including the supporters and the officials of that team, who would qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup,” Infantino said. “That is obvious.”
A Trail of Obstacles Dating Back Months
The ticket revocation is the latest in a series of obstacles Iran has navigated to reach the World Cup. On June 5 and 6, Iranian officials publicly accused the United States of denying visas to officials over their IRGC ties, including Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian federation and a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The federation described the denials as “vindictive behavior.” About 15 administrative and management staff were affected, the BBC reported.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously said that Iran’s players would be welcome at the tournament, but that individuals with links to the IRGC could face entry restrictions. The federation had presented FIFA with a list of ten conditions for participation, including allowing players, coaches and officials who had completed military service with the IRGC to enter. Taj and the FFIRI secretary-general were among those turned away, the BBC reported.
Earlier, on May 25, FIFA confirmed that Iran had officially moved its World Cup training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, just south of the US border. The federation said the move would resolve potential visa issues since the team would enter the United States through Mexico. Under the terms of the visas ultimately issued to players, the squad must fly in and out of the country on the same day as each of their three group matches, a tighter schedule than the World Cup norm of arriving the day before a fixture for a pre-match press conference.
Iran was the only country not present at FIFA’s annual congress in Vancouver in April after a delegation of FFIRI officials, including Taj, was turned away at the Canadian border. The cumulative picture is a tournament in which Iran’s players have visas, but most of the federation’s senior staff do not, and now the country’s fans cannot reliably buy tickets through official channels. South Africa’s World Cup squad hit a visa scramble of its own this week.
Iran’s World Cup squad landed in Tijuana on June 7, according to Al Jazeera, with the team using Mexico as its base for the tournament and crossing into the United States only on match days.
- December 2025: World Cup draw in Washington places Iran in Group G with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.
- Late February 2026: The United States and Israel launch military strikes against Iran over its nuclear program, opening a war that has remained effectively on hold under a fragile ceasefire.
- April 8, 2026: A ceasefire between the United States and Iran takes hold after nearly six weeks of fighting.
- April 2026: Iran’s federation delegation is turned away at the Canadian border ahead of FIFA’s annual congress in Vancouver.
- May 25, 2026: FIFA confirms Iran has moved its World Cup training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico.
- June 5 to 6, 2026: Iran’s players receive US visas. Iran accuses the US of denying visas to about 15 administrative and management staff, including federation president Mehdi Taj.
- June 9, 2026: Iran’s federation says the country’s 8% World Cup ticket allocation has been withdrawn. FIFA says it is working on a “compliant” solution.
- June 11, 2026: The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off.
The War and the Sanctions That Set the Terms
Iran’s tournament has been shaped from the start by the war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran in late February over the threat posed by its nuclear program. The Al Jazeera account of the federation’s statement dates the opening attacks to February 28. The two countries have remained at war in practical terms since, despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 8 after nearly six weeks of fighting.
That backdrop is what the OFAC sanctions machinery sits inside, the BBC reported. US sanctions have long restricted Iranian residents’ ability to engage in dollar-based transactions with US-based entities, including the kind of bulk ticket purchase the World Cup’s standard 8% allocation requires. The travel ban on Iranian residents, in place since last year, made it unlikely that any meaningful number of fans would be able to enter the United States in any case.
Negotiations for a broader deal between the United States and Iran have so far proved fruitless, and President Donald Trump has told US negotiators “not to rush” into a deal, the BBC reported. The fragile ceasefire has been punctuated by skirmishes, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, the same waterway through which a meaningful share of the world’s oil passes.
What Remains Unresolved
- June 15, Inglewood, California: Iran vs New Zealand
- June 21, Inglewood, California: Iran vs Belgium
- June 26, Seattle, Washington: Iran vs Egypt
None of the three group games is in doubt for the players themselves, who received their visas on Friday, June 5. The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins on Thursday, June 11, four days before Iran’s opener.
FIFA’s statement that it is working to “identify compliant solutions” leaves the supporter question open. If no path is found, the BBC reported, Iran’s ticket allocation returns to general sale, leaving Iranian fans with whatever they can buy on the open market. Neither FIFA nor US organizers have publicly confirmed who made the revocation decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why were Iran’s World Cup tickets revoked?
Iran’s football federation says the United States revoked the country’s 8% ticket allocation for its three group games. FIFA has not publicly identified the body that took the decision but says it is working with the federation to find a “compliant” solution. The BBC reports that US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions, which limit the ability of US-based entities to process transactions involving Iran, sit behind the practical blockage.
What is the 8% World Cup ticket allocation rule?
Each federation that qualifies for the FIFA World Cup is entitled to receive 8% of the available tickets for each of its matches, which the federation can then distribute to supporters through official channels. Iran was due to receive the standard allocation for its three Group G matches but says the allocation was withdrawn after ticket sales had already begun.
Can Iranian fans still attend the World Cup?
As of the federation’s June 9 statement, no tickets were available to Iranian supporters through the federation. FIFA has said it is working to “maximise opportunities for Iranian supporters to attend matches,” and the BBC reports that the allocation could return to general sale if no compliant solution is found. Iranian residents have also been subject to a US travel ban since last year, limiting the number who could enter the country in any case.
What is the US-Iran situation affecting the World Cup?
The United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran in late February 2026 over its nuclear program. A ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect on April 8, 2026, after nearly six weeks of fighting, but negotiations on a broader deal have stalled. Iran moved its World Cup training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, on May 25, and the country was the only participant whose federation delegation was turned away from FIFA’s annual congress in Vancouver in April.
Has FIFA named who revoked Iran’s ticket allocation?
No. Neither FIFA nor US organizers have publicly identified the body that made the call. The FFIRI’s Tuesday statement stopped short of naming a decision-maker. FIFA’s response described the body as “working” to find a “compliant solution” without confirming who made the initial decision to withdraw the allocation.
