DHS eases Iran World Cup travel rules before third match

The Department of Homeland Security is revising travel guidance for Iran’s national soccer team ahead of its third World Cup match on Friday, allowing the squad to enter the United States 24 hours before games after earlier reports suggested players might have to arrive and leave on the same day. The change puts a hard timeline around a problem that has grown into both a security question and a diplomatic dispute as Iran stages its tournament base in Tijuana, Mexico.

The updated arrangement matters because Iran’s matches in the United States are being managed under tight controls, with travel from Mexico to U.S. venues treated as part of the competition itself. A DHS spokesperson told NBC News that the department was changing the guidelines to accommodate extra time afforded to other countries in the tournament, after Iran had already been told it could cross into the United States the day before each of its World Cup matches.

Iran’s federation has pushed back hard. It said it intended to file an official complaint with FIFA over the travel arrangements between its training base in Mexico and the matches in the United States. The federation also said FIFA revoked Iran’s fan ticket allocation for the tournament, which it described as an 8 percent quota, leaving supporters who had already made travel plans unable to attend.

The U.S. side has not fully resolved the matter. Reuters reported that officials were still assessing Iran’s travel arrangements and that the original plan remained in place as of June 20, 2026. That left the team in a narrow corridor of movement, with U.S. entry rules, tournament logistics and international security concerns all intersecting around one of soccer’s most politically sensitive delegations.

The issue has also been sharpened by the broader relationship between Washington and Tehran. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said he could not guarantee the security of Iran’s team if it traveled to the United States for the World Cup. That warning now hangs over a schedule that is as much about diplomacy as it is about football, with the team’s path from Tijuana to its U.S. matches becoming part of the tournament’s most closely watched off-field story.