Iran will participate in World Cup after all the players were given visas to enter the United States and play the World Cup matches. The players and part of the staff land in Mexico on Sunday, where they will be based for the tournament: the visas express that the players and staff will need to enter and leave the country during the same day as their matches.
There have been further controversy because the US did not grant visas to several members of the Iranian Football Federation, including IFF's President Mehdi Taj, Director Mehdi Kharati, secretary-general of the federation, Hedayat Mombini, and Media Director Mohsen Motamedkia.
Iran's embassy criticised the decision, saying key members of any national football team have been left out. "You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level", the embassy of Iran in Turkey said in a post on social media.
Iran plays in Group G of the World Cup, against New Zealand (June 16), Belgium (June 21), and Egypt (June 27).