By Peter Omopo
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has reportedly revoked the ticket allocation reserved for Iranian supporters for all three of the country’s group-stage matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.
The Iranian Football Federation disclosed the development on Tuesday, stating that it would no longer be able to distribute tickets to its supporters ahead of the tournament.
Under FIFA regulations, each of the 48 participating national federations is entitled to receive and distribute approximately eight per cent of stadium capacity for its matches, amounting to thousands of tickets for fans.
The decision comes just days before Iran opens its World Cup campaign against the New Zealand national football team on June 15 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
The development adds to ongoing tensions involving Iranian football authorities, FIFA and the United States, one of the tournament’s co-hosts. The situation has also affected Iran’s preparations for the competition.
Iran’s national team has established its training base in Tijuana, Mexico, after abandoning earlier plans to camp in Tucson, Arizona. Reports also indicate that some Iranian football officials have been denied visas to enter the United States.
Iran is scheduled to face Belgium on June 21 in Inglewood before taking on Egypt in Seattle on June 26 in its final group-stage fixture.
National federations typically allocate their ticket quotas to loyal supporters who regularly attend home and away matches. However, restrictions affecting Iranian citizens have complicated travel arrangements for fans seeking to attend the tournament in the United States.
It remains unclear how many tickets from Iran’s allocation had already been distributed, particularly to members of the Iranian diaspora residing in the United States and other countries.
FIFA had not issued an official response to the claims at the time of filing this report.
The issue has revived longstanding concerns about access to FIFA tournaments. In 2017, FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated that all qualified teams, their officials and supporters should be granted access to World Cup host countries.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that a FIFA-appointed referee from Somalia was recently denied entry into the United States and has subsequently been ruled out of participating in the tournament.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to begin this week across host nations the United States, Canada and Mexico.
