Tournament 2026 in the USA
US President Trump prohibits World Cup participants
05.06.2025 – 11:00 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The World Cup will take place in the USA, Mexico and Canada in 2026. Iran has qualified. However, players are not likely to go into the country due to the entry ban of the US President.
The Iran national football team was allowed to cheer at the end of March. The team of coach Amir Ghalenoei qualified prematurely for the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada next year. The Iranians wanted to be one of 48 teams.
Because there was some unrest in the continental associations around Donald Trump’s hard politics, FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently confirmed: “The world is welcome in America.” And also JD Vance, the Vice of US President Donald Trump, emphasized that foreign fans were welcome in the USA, provided they left the country again after the tournament.
A few weeks later, however, the situation looks a little different. The reason for this is the ban on entry announced by US President Trump. However, this could cause problems for the Iranian national team – just like many fans.
Why? The US President announced entry restrictions on Wednesday (local time) without warning. Specifically, 78-year-old citizens from twelve countries prohibited entry into the United States. Citizens from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen may not enter the USA from June 9th.
Say: Neither Iranian fans nor the Iranian national football team and the staff should then travel to the USA according to the current status, even though the national team has qualified for the World Cup. The tournament will start in June of the coming year. In a document of the White House, Trump wanted to protect the US citizens from “foreign terrorists” through the step.
According to Trump, there is no longer enough information about nationals of these countries to exclude risks. It is still open whether Iran can take part in a world championship for the seventh time. FIFA has not yet commented on the announced entry ban in relation to the World Cup next year.
The last statements of JD Vance are likely to trigger discussions again on the occasion of the announced entry restrictions. The Vice President said: “I know that we will have visitors from almost 100 countries. We want them to come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to look at the games.” For this, however, they would have to come into the country.