Iran is now expected to field a delegation at Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington DC. Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donjamali told the state news agency erna Head coach Aamir Ghalenoi will participate in it on Thursday.
This comes almost a week after the Iranian FA (FFIRI) announced that it would boycott the draw in protest after learning that several members of its planned delegation had been denied entry visas to the United States.
According to the English language website tehran timesFFIRI president Mehdi Taj was among those who have been refused entry. In his statement, Donjamali said that now that the visa has been issued, it is not clear whether the FFIRI president will be part of the delegation or not.
There has been a dispute between Iran and the US for decades, with diplomatic relations broken in 1980. US President Donald Trump has imposed a general entry ban on Iranian citizens, with limited exceptions.
Will Iranian fans be excluded?
As things stood, Iranian soccer fans would not be allowed to travel to the United States to support their team during the World Cup. The same applies to fans of Haiti, which has also qualified for the World Cup.
However, the travel ban has no impact on the national team players and coaches of these countries. Trump’s executive order creates exceptions for, among others, “any athlete or athletic team member, including coaches, individuals performing essential support roles, and immediate relatives, who are traveling to the World Cup, the Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State.”
Next summer’s World Cup will mark Iran’s fourth consecutive participation in the tournament and seventh overall. The country has never reached the knockout stage, but has faced the United States twice. Iran defeated the United States 2–1 in the group stage of the 1998 tournament in France. The United States got their revenge by defeating Iran 1–0 in Qatar in 2022.
The 2026 World Cup, to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will begin on June 11, with the final to be played at the New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19.
Editing: Kalika Mehta
This article was originally published on November 28, 2026. It was updated on December 4, 2026 with Iran’s decision not to boycott the World Cup draw.