TEHRAN – Iran national football team head coach Amir Ghalenoei has expressed his dissatisfaction after the United States failed to issue visas for several members of the team's support staff, forcing them to travel to Mexico later than planned.

Iran's World Cup 2026 squad arrived in Mexico on Sunday amid a diplomatic dispute, with visa delays preventing some delegation members from entering the United States alongside the team.

The Iran coach, Amir Ghalenoei, complained on arrival at Tijuana airport that “we should have been here last week because a 12-hour time difference needs two weeks of adjusting. Usually in these tournaments, before technical matters, ethical and human considerations must be respected – which I think for us it was not the case.”

After departing from their training camp in Turkey a day earlier, the Iran team landed on Sunday in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.

Ghalenoei’s side will be based in Tijuana throughout the tournament, despite playing all three of their group-stage games in the U.S., theguardian.com reported.

Iran’s players and coaching staff left their plane amid tight security which included a contingent of Mexican national guard troops. Just a handful of fans waving Iranian flags were present at the airport to welcome them from a distance.

The dispute has erupted just days before Thursday’s kick-off of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Ghalenoei thanked world football’s governing body, FIFA, for its efforts to help secure entry, but added: “We are upset about this behavior. It has certainly never happened before.”

The team captain, Ehsan Hajsafi, said he wanted to convey his grievance to FIFA about the delay in getting U.S. visas. “Why so late?” he demanded. “In the last year, we experienced two imposed wars in our country.” Hajsafi added “the team is 100% ready” and insisted “we can advance” from the group stage.

Iran’s Group G games will be held in Los Angeles (against New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June) and in Seattle (against Egypt on 26 June). This will be the first men’s football World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with.