Iran cleared to enter US 2 days before critical Egypt match

Field Level Media|published: Tue 23rd June, 16:22 2026

June 21, 2026; Inglewood, California, U.S.; Iran's Saeid Ezatolahi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh celebrate after the match. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Restrictions around the Iran national team's World Cup travel are being slightly loosened, with the team now permitted to travel to at U.S. game sites two days before the day of the match, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday.

Iran were previously forced to travel to game sites within 24 hours of each of their first two games, both of which were played in Inglewood, Calif. This change will allow Iran to travel to Seattle on Wednesday ahead of Friday's Group G match against Egypt.

The team still must return to its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, immediately after a match concludes, leaving that aspect of Iran's travel restrictions unchanged.

Iran announced over the weekend they would be making a complaint with FIFA about the requirements, with manager Amir Ghalenoei saying Iran are "the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup."

And yet Iran (0-0-2, 2 points) earned a draw in each of their first two matches and can advance to the knockout stage for the first time in history with a win -- and potentially a draw -- in their final group-stage match. Egypt top the group standings at 1-0-1 with four points.

As of Tuesday afternoon's live knockout stage bracket created by BBC, Iran is set to face Australia in a Round of 32 match July 3 at Arlington, Texas.

--Field Level Media

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