Iran issues World Cup ultimatum to USA: Federation demands ten guarantees before 2026 travel

Zurich, on a grey Tuesday morning in late February, was the setting for a document that might reshape the contours of next summer’s World Cup. The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) delivered a ten-point memorandum to FIFA headquarters, laying out conditions it considers non-negotiable before its senior men’s team will board a plane for the United States.^{T2, BBC Football} The demands span visas, security, and the treatment of Iranian supporters in a host nation with which Tehran has no diplomatic relations.

The document, confirmed by FIFA officials to the BBC, arrives at a moment when the geopolitical architecture of the 2026 tournament is already under strain. The United States, Mexico, and Canada share hosting duties across sixteen cities, but the question of who gets to enter those cities, and under what terms, has never been purely a matter of sport. Iran’s federation is asking for written guarantees that its players, staff, and accredited journalists will receive entry visas without complication, that its fans will not face harassment or discriminatory treatment at border crossings and inside stadiums, and that the federation’s banking and logistical operations will not be frozen by US sanctions during the tournament window.^{T2, BBC Football}

The specifics of the remaining conditions have not been made public in full, but a senior FFIRI official, speaking to the BBC on condition of anonymity, described them as “essential protections for a sovereign football federation operating under extraordinary circumstances.” The reference is to a sanctions regime that has, in previous years, delayed payments to Iranian sports bodies and complicated travel for athletes in international competition. In 2022, at the World Cup in Qatar, Iran’s participation was shadowed by domestic protests and by questions over whether players would face repercussions for political expression. The federation’s memorandum to FIFA appears to be an attempt to ensure that the 26 tournament does not carry similar uncertainties.

FIFA has not issued a formal response. A spokesperson told the BBC that the governing body is “reviewing the communication” and remains “committed to the participation of all qualified member associations under conditions that respect both the tournament framework and applicable law.” The phrasing is careful, because the applicable law is the problem. US immigration policy operates independently of FIFA’s tournament regulations, and the State Department, not the sport’s governing body, decides who crosses the border.

For the three co-hosts, the memorandum is a logistical headache layered onto a political one. Mexico and Canada, as co-hosts, have limited leverage over American visa decisions. The United States, meanwhile, has its own legal framework governing sanctioned nations, one that does not make exceptions for football tournaments unless the executive branch chooses to. Whether the White House will intervene on behalf of a federation representing a country it has sanctioned for decades is a question no one at FIFA or in Washington has yet answered publicly.

The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place later this year. Iran, ranked inside the top twenty-five, are a near-certain participant. Whether they will be a present one is now, formally, a matter for negotiation between a football federation in Tehran, a governing body in Zurich, and three host governments whose priorities do not always align with the tournament’s calendar.