Days before the 2026 World Cup begins, Iran's football federation said that its allotment of tickets for games had been cancelled, preventing fans who had already made travel arrangements from attending their games.
Co-hosts Mexico will play South Africa in Mexico City on Thursday to kick off the World Cup. Iran's first two games are in Los Angeles against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21. On June 26, they play Egypt in Seattle for their final Group G match.
"This is even though many Iranian football fans, relying on the officially announced process, had already made the necessary plans to attend the matches," the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) said in a statement, adding that although it had already started the ticketing process for the matches, it was no longer able to provide tickets to fans.
"It is against the spirit of international contests and the idea of equality among participating countries to deny Iranian fans access to their legitimate and official ticket allocation," the FFIRI said. "This development raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the world's biggest football event."
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Eight per cent of the tickets for each World Cup match are given to each participating federation, which distributes them to fans based on its own standards.
The FFIRI urged FIFA, the world football governing body, to uphold "the principles of neutrality, fairness, and established regulations" and called on it to keep off-field problems from overshadowing the tournament, although it did not specify who had made the decision to withdraw the tickets.
Iran automatically qualified for the 2026 finals through Asian qualification, but since the US and Israel jointly attacked Tehran on February 28, sparking a regional confrontation, the team's participation in North America has come under a cloud.
The FFIRI requested that the team's base be relocated from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, because they were unsure if they would be granted US visas and there was a growing perception in Iran that the squad's stay in the US should be kept to a minimum.
Just 10 days before their first game, the US finally granted visas to every Iranian player last Friday. Some Iranian staffers had their visas denied.
FIFA reported on Tuesday that following the team's arrival at their tournament base in Mexico, secretary general Mattias Grafstrom had a "positive discussion" with FFIRI president Mehdi Taj.
According to a statement from Grafstrom, "FIFA will continue dialogue and collaboration with the FFIRI to ensure the team and the delegation's experience is a positive one now that the team is in Mexico."
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