Iran World Cup team says host USA deprived justice

Iran says – Iran’s players and coaches say the World Cup host, the United States, has repeatedly made their campaign harder—denying visas, forcing a last-minute base-camp change, and leaving them without their logistics staff. After a 1-1 draw with Egypt on Friday, Iran’s

SEATTLE — Iran’s World Cup journey has been difficult in ways that weren’t supposed to come from opponents on the pitch. After a 1-1 draw against Egypt on Friday. the team’s captain. Mehdi Taremi. pointed to the friction surrounding them—travel problems. visa denials. and constant disruptions that they say left them fighting for control even when the match clock was the only thing that should matter.

“We have to fight against everything here,” Taremi said after Friday’s draw, which left Iran’s knockout-stage hopes in limbo.

On the field, the margin was thin and the calls were brutal. A potential game-winning goal was ruled offside by VAR for the second consecutive match, adding yet another element Iran said it couldn’t influence. Off it, the problems began before kickoff and continued into the group stage.

Iran said it faced travel issues including denied visas, along with a last-minute change to its base-camp location. The team moved its base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico—hundreds of miles away from Los Angeles and Seattle, where it played its group-stage matches.

Taremi tied the disruptions to a visit earlier in the tournament. FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited Iran’s locker room for the team’s World Cup opener against New Zealand. and Taremi said Infantino told the players the issues they were experiencing were due to it being “just the beginning” of the tournament.

“The group stage finishes tomorrow,” Taremi said Friday, “and we don’t have our logistics people here. They don’t have a visa.”

The team’s travel timeline, according to Iran, added pressure right when recovery and preparation are typically most important. Iran’s team and staff were not allowed into the country until 24 hours prior to their first two matches in Los Angeles. and 48 hours prior to the final group stage match in Seattle. Some officials and staff were denied visas entirely.

Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei said the host’s handling of their situation left the team with no room to get ahead of logistical setbacks.

“The host country treated us very unfairly,” Ghalenoei said. “We wanted to arrive two days early, have time for recovery. We would’ve been in better shape physically and mentally, but they deprived us of that justice."

The stakes kept rising as Iran tried to negotiate its way through Group G. The team played to three draws in group play and finished third in Group G with three points. Now it must wait until the end of the last group-stage matches Saturday to find out whether it becomes one of the top eight third-place teams that advance to the knockout rounds.

For Iran, the question isn’t only whether it advances—it’s what state it will be in if it does. Taremi framed the situation in stark terms after Friday’s match.

“Imagine we get our luck and pass the group stage, but we don’t have any recovery,” he said, adding that the team would have to return to Tijuana immediately after Friday’s match.

Ramin Rezaeian, the 36-year-old defender who scored Iran’s goal against Egypt on Friday, reacted differently than Taremi. Where Taremi stressed logistics and immediate consequences, Rezaeian said he didn’t want to turn the campaign into complaint.

“I don’t like to complain, I don’t like that,” Rezaeian said. “But my people in Iran deserve more than anything. They deserve more happiness. They deserve everything.”

Iran World Cup U.S. host visas base camp change VAR offside Mehdi Taremi Amir Ghalenoei Ramin Rezaeian FIFA Group G