United States (specifically, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Tuesday that the Iran national team will be allowed to enter the country two days before their final group stage match, responding to the continuous criticism and complaints by the Iranian football federation, its players and coach, who said they were the most oppressed nation in World Cup history.
"For the Iranian team's third match in Seattle on June 26, the team has been permitted to come into the US two days before the match", said the DHS in a statement. "The Iran team will still be required to leave the day the match ends. The overall security measures and protocol are the same".
Despite being designed by chance to play their three group stage matches in the United States, Donald Trump's country did not allow them to stay on their soil, forcing them to have their training camp in Mexico and enter and leave the United States within 24 hours before and after the match. Those travel restrictions have been slightly reduced.
Iran can still qualify for round of 32
Iran played their first two matches in Los Angeles and left a handwritten note thanking the city (with a large Iranian community) for their hospitality.
Iran achieved two draws in their first games against New Zealand and Belgium, and play against Egypt on Saturday, June 27, at 5:00 AM CEST, 4:00 BST. Now second in the Group G, a win would qualify them for round of 32 as group leaders, and a draw could be enough to qualify as second or even third in the group, depending on the results from that and other groups.
