Iran chases first World Cup knockout berth amid travel restrictions

Iran’s World Cup run has become a test of endurance as much as football. Amir Ghalenoei’s side entered its final group match with a chance to reach the knockout stage for the first time, even as war damage, visa denials and travel restrictions forced the team to operate under conditions no other contender faced.

FIFA says Iran is heading to a seventh World Cup and is still chasing a breakthrough it has never managed in six previous appearances. The team has never advanced beyond the group stage, despite reaching the tournament in 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022. FIFA also says Iran lost only once in 16 matches during qualifying, a record that underlined how strong the team looked before the off-field strain set in.

The path through Group play has been complicated by geography and politics. Iran’s schedule sent it to Los Angeles for New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, then to Seattle for Egypt on June 26. Reuters reported on June 20 that the original U.S. travel plan remained in place, meaning Iran could move to venues only within 24 hours of matches and had to return immediately to its training base in Tijuana, Mexico. White House World Cup task force director Andrew Giuliani called the situation “dynamic.”

The tension had already surfaced before kickoff. Iran said U.S. officials denied visas to key staff members, including “integral” people in the technical and managerial group, and the U.S. said all players and coaches had received visas while some team officials had not. Iran’s embassy in Turkey accused Washington of “the worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport,” putting the tournament squarely in the long-running friction between Tehran and Washington.

Ghalenoei, who returned to Iran’s national setup in March 2023, had already led the side to the semifinals of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup before qualifying. After Iran’s opener, he said his team had been forced to leave Los Angeles immediately and described Iran as perhaps “the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup.” Captain Mehdi Taremi said FIFA president Gianni Infantino had visited the squad and that the players wanted more help.

For Iran, the stakes go beyond a place in the bracket. The country’s best-known World Cup result remains its 2-1 win over the United States in 1998, a result still remembered as a national landmark. A first knockout-round appearance would carry similar symbolic weight, offering Iranians at home and abroad a rare moment of shared pride in a team that has had to fight for every mile of its tournament.