World Cup explainer: Could visa issues stop fans & players attending?

With the FIFA World Cup 2026 just days away, teams, fans and everybody connected to the event in the US, Canada and Mexico will be getting ready to making their long journeys. 

But for some, the trip to the biggest football festival has been hindered or put in question completely over strict entry requirements and related visa or travel authorization issues.

At the center of the controversy is the question of whether the Iranian football team would be permitted to enter the United States, given that the two countries remain in a state of de facto conflict despite the current ceasefire.

That issue was seemingly resolved on Friday, after members of Iran's World Cup football team were granted visas, clearing them to enter the US from their training base in Mexico, ahead of their first two matches near Los Angeles.

The team's participation in the World Cup itself has been complicated by Iran's war with Israel and the United States.

Problems with processing visas had earlier led Iran to move its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, on Mexico's border with California.

But the Iranian team are far from the only ones faced with issues.

Can everyone attend the World Cup?

A World Cup ticket does not guarantee entry to any host country.

Fans still need to meet normal immigration requirements and obtain the appropriate visa or travel authorization.

For the US, travelers generally need either an ESTA, if their country participates in the Visa Waiver Program, or a B-1/B-2 visitor visa.

Given the expected higher demand, FIFA and the US government introduced a FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System (PASS) to help ticket holders get visa interview appointments faster, but it does not guarantee visa approval.

However, there have been reports of visa denials, ESTA revocations, and concerns from supporters, and even some team members, of several countries, with some having found previously approved travel authorizations revoked or delayed.

Who has been affected?

For those traveling to the US, some nationals of participating nations are faced with an outright travel ban, in the case of Iran and Haiti, or partial travel ban if they come from Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, or Angola.

But even where there are no travel restrictions, supporters from some countries are said to have faced additional obstacles such as visa bonds, lengthy processing times, or increased scrutiny.

But it is not just fans that have been affected.

After a wave of publicity, players of the Iranian team may have got their US visas, but Iranian media said on Saturday that some administrative staff did not have theirs.

Staff members without visas would travel to Mexico with the team while efforts to obtain visas continue, Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.

Similarly, Switzerland forward Breel Embolo could not travel with the team on Tuesday due to a flagged visa, but the Switzerland football federation on Thursday announced that Embolo would be joining his teammates later this week.

South Africa has also experienced significant visa problems that delayed their departure for the World Cup.

The team's flight to its training base in Mexico was postponed because a number of players and officials had not yet received the visas needed for travel through the United States. 

However, unlike some countries whose fans face broader entry restrictions, South Africa's issue appears to have been largely an administrative and visa-processing problem.

Why is this important?

The 'visa controversy' throws a shadow over one of the biggest and most anticipated sporting events, one that many argue should bring people across the globe together.

But despite being the most open tournament, with a record 48 nations competing, human rights groups argue that supporters of some nations are effectively excluded from attending matches in the United States even if they can afford tickets and travel.

US officials have repeatedly stressed that sporting-event exemptions exist for athletes and team personnel, even for countries affected by broader travel restrictions.

That was the basis on which Iranian players ultimately received visas despite wider tensions.

At the same time, administration officials have made clear that visitors are expected to comply with immigration rules.

A deeper criticism is that FIFA awarded hosting rights to countries while simultaneously promising a tournament that respects human rights principles and global access.

In 2017, FIFA president Gianni Infantino criticized the United States' travel ban on several Muslim-majority nations, saying that "when it comes to FIFA competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup.2

That principle has been part of FIFA's position for years whenever immigration restrictions have been raised as a concern.

Now, almost a decade later, advocacy groups argue that if fans from qualified nations cannot attend because of immigration policies, FIFA is failing to uphold those commitments.

What is being done to resolve the issue?

While FIFA and US authorities have taken steps to ease access to the World Cup, many of those measures focus on speeding up the visa process rather than changing the underlying immigration rules.

The most significant initiative is FIFA PASS, a priority appointment system that allows World Cup ticket holders to access visa interviews more quickly.

US officials have also relaxed certain visa-bond requirements for some eligible ticket holders and worked with FIFA to ensure that players, coaches, and essential team personnel can travel to the tournament.

In several high-profile cases, governments and football federations have successfully intervened to resolve visa issues affecting teams and officials.

However, critics argue that these measures do not address the core concern: unequal access for supporters from certain countries.

Faster processing does not guarantee visa approval, and FIFA PASS cannot override US immigration laws or travel restrictions.

As a result, while most teams have been able to participate and many administrative delays have been resolved, fans from some nations continue to face greater barriers to attending matches than others.

For now, the strategy has been to facilitate and expedite travel where possible, rather than alter the policies that gave rise to the controversy in the first place.

When the World Cup finally kicks off on June 11, all the fans desperate to watch will be hoping they will be able to do so.