US President Donald Trump, left, and Gianni Infantino, president of Fifa, with the Fifa World Cup trophy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday, 22 August 2025. (Photo: Annabelle Gordon / UPI / Bloomberg via Getty Images) 
The next edition of the world’s biggest sports event is less than one year away. However, a number of questions still remain on how safe and welcome people will be at the US, Mexico and Canada-hosted soccer spectacle.
Fresh questions have bubbled to the surface after the US reportedly refused an Iranian delegation visas into the country. This before the official draw for the 2026 World Cup.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place on 5 December, in Washington DC. But as things stand, Iran will not have anyone representing them, despite their qualification for the tournament.
Iran is one of 12 nations on the US’ “banned list”, which was conceptualised by president Donald Trump’s administration and ratified in June 2025. Alongside Iran on the travel ban list are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Fifa’s stance
The citizens of these countries are barred from entering the US.
Nevertheless, Fifa president Gianni Infantino has constantly stated that people from all types of backgrounds and nations will be welcome in the US, who will host the majority of next year’s World Cup matches. Of the 16 host cities, 11 are from the US.
“It’s important to clarify this. There is a lot of misconception out there. Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the US for the World Cup next year. We are working exactly for that,” Infantino said in August 2025.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AFP__20240105__MEI-Iran-H-IVBFFM-20240105-036__v1__HighRes__IranVBurkinaFasoFriendly.jpg "Ehsan Haji Safi and Omid Ebrahimi of Iran. (Photo: Hossein / Middle East Images via AFP)")
“At the Club World Cup this year, we had fans coming [to the US] from 164 different countries without a problem. Obviously, there is a process to go through to get visas and so on. This process will be smooth; it will ensure that those that qualify will be able to come with their fans.
“We have to work on that, we have to make it better, we have to make it simpler. But there is definitely a commitment of the government in the United States to make sure that the process is smooth, so fans from all over the world will be welcome,” he added.
Iran visas rejected
Nonetheless, just weeks after this claim by Infantino, officials of the Iranian Football Federation reportedly had their visa applications rejected. This includes federation president Mehdi Taj, as well as the national team’s head coach Amir Ghalenoei and other soccer officials in the country.
Iran soccer’s governing body has reportedly escalated the matter to Fifa, with the hopes of a resolution before the draw takes place in Washington DC.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/13407519.jpg "Demonstrators gather during a protest organised by the self-styled GenZ212 collective in Rabat, Morocco, on 6 October 2025. The group protested for the tenth consecutive day to demand reforms to public healthcare and education. (Photo: EPA / Jalal Morchidi)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/13402873.jpg "Demonstrators gather during a protest organised by the GenZ212 collective demanding reforms to public healthcare and education in Rabat, Morocco, on 4 October 2025. (Photo: EPA / Jalal Morchidi)")
Whether or not they are successful in overturning their barring from entering the US, the incident raises deeper questions on what treatment general citizens hoping to watch the World Cup in the US will face.
In September, The Athletic said that Fifa received 145 reports around human rights concerns from people who were at the 2025 Club World Cup in the US. The complaints were submitted via Fifa’s own feedback platform.
The US is also currently a polarised country, with an ideological tug-of-war unfolding between the supporters of the liberal Democrats and the conservative Republicans. This has also brought safety concerns for attendees.
Political issues
While Trump’s regime has championed various polarising policies this year, such as its strict immigration stance, there has been pushback from some regions within the US.
Just recently Trump threatened to take away hosting rights from cities that his administration does not deem safe. He singled out Seattle and San Francisco in particular.
“It will be safe for the World Cup. If I think it isn’t safe, we’ll move it to a different city. Absolutely. If I think it’s not safe, we’re going to move it out of that city,” Trump stated.
“If any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup... we won’t allow it to go, we’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.”
However, Fifa have dismissed this claim by the US president, via its vice-president Victor Montagliani.
“It’s Fifa’s tournament, Fifa’s jurisdiction, Fifa makes those decisions,” Montagliani said. “With all due respect to current world leaders, football is bigger than them, and football will survive their regime and their government and their slogans.”
Morocco, which will co-host the 2030 soccer World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, has also been plagued by its own political issues recently.
Youth-led protest action has enveloped the country in recent weeks. The protesters are highlighting a number of socioeconomic issues that they feel should take priority over their government spending funds on refurbishing stadiums before the World Cup.
Issues such as better healthcare and education are the main grievances of the protesting Moroccans. DM