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FIFA Seeks to Restore Iranian Fans' U.S. Cup Tickets

6/12/2026

Summary

FIFA Enables Fans

FIFA is working to let Iranian supporters attend U.S. Cup matches after the Iranian federation’s ticket allocation was revoked.
Iran will face New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June in Los Angeles, and Egypt on 26 June in Seattle.
The federation says FIFA rules grant 8 % of tickets while Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions block processing, prompting NIAC to call revocation petty and vindictive and urging FIFA to uphold neutrality.

Summary

Iran Relocates Base

Iran moved its base from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico after U.S.-Israel strikes in February, where guards forced Club Tijuana staff to log 18-hour days to ready a pitch.
Only twelve of Iran’s twenty-six players, including striker Mehdi Taremi, trained Thursday.
Fifteen staff stayed behind while the kit man ran the press conference.
Iran’s warm-up match was a 3-0 win over Club Tijuana’s under-21 side after a Grenada friendly was cancelled.

History

Historical Context

After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC imposed sweeping sanctions, and in 1995 listed over 1,200 Iranian firms while capping ticket-sale revenue for Iran’s football federation at 8 %. Those rules forced the national team’s training base to move from Tucson to Tijuana and now block FIFA’s plan to allocate the mandated 8 % of World Cup tickets to Iranian fans.

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FIFA Enables Fans

FIFA is working to let Iranian supporters attend U.S. Cup matches after the Iranian federation’s ticket allocation was revoked.
Iran will face New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June in Los Angeles, and Egypt on 26 June in Seattle.
The federation says FIFA rules grant 8 % of tickets while Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions block processing, prompting NIAC to call revocation petty and vindictive and urging FIFA to uphold neutrality.

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