The decision for the United States to be the main host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico has been a controversial one. As of 2025, 19 countries face travel bans to the US with an additional 39 facing partial suspension. These countries include Haiti, Iran, Afghanistan and Dominican Republic of the Congo. This and the increasing restrictions facing people travelling to the US have left many fans and footballers missing out on the World Cup.
There have been several cases of Middle Eastern and African nationals having their visas revoked or rejected upon travelling to the US. This year marked the first time Haiti has qualified for the World Cup since 1974. In their first game of the tournament they played Scotland in Boston on the 13th with a relatively small crowd. Haitians living in the US cited the expensive ticket prices as yet another barrier facing the fans.
After an 11 hour interrogation in Miami, Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entrance into the US. Somalia is not under a US travel ban but Somalis in the US have been targeted by immigration enforcement raids. Last December, US President Donald Trump attacked Somalian- Americans in a speech accusing them of, “ripping off the country.” Artan told the BBC “I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa. I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.” Although he was offered compensation from FIFA, Artan rejected the payout.
When the World Cup began, the conflict between the US and Iran was still ongoing, posing major issues for both fans and footballers. The Iranian team is set to lodge a complaint with FIFA over the issues they have faced due to the travel ban. Though the team has been allowed to compete in the US they are having to travel via Mexico before each game. For their match against Belgium they were only allowed to enter Los Angeles 24 hours before the game. The teams head coach Amir Ghalenoei said they were the “most oppressed team in the tournament.” Their complaint will be based on the fact that the conditions they have been subjected to as a team go against the competition’s principle of equal treatment of all competing teams. With the ongoing peace negotiations between the US and Iran, these conditions may change.
Even for countries without official travel restrictions, securing a visa for the games has been no easy task for many. Fans from the Côte d’Ivoire and Algeria initially faced possible US entry bonds as high as $15,000 going into the tournament, these were later waived by the US State Department if they’d bought official tickets and applied for FIFA’s Priority Appointment Scheduling System (PASS) by April 15. This left many fans excluded from the chance to watch their team due to high ticket costs.
