The Iran Football Federation (FFIRI) announced on Tuesday that winger Mehdi Torabi’s visa for the United States expired after only one visit to Los Angeles for Iran’s FIFA World Cup 2026 opening match.
An FFIRI spokesperson said, “While multiple-entry visas were issued for the team’s players to travel to the United States, Mehdi Torabi’s visa was valid for only one entry.”
He added, “Following the team’s trip to Los Angeles for the match against New Zealand and the completion of that game, his visa has now expired. The Iran Football Federation has taken action to obtain a new visa for Torabi so that he can continue to accompany the national team in its upcoming matches.”
According to Reuters, Iran is traveling from their tournament base in the Mexican border city of Tijuana for their three World Cup group-stage matches, with the first two taking place in Los Angeles and the third in Seattle.
Iran and New Zealand drew 2-2 in their World Cup opener at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. New Zealand took an early lead through Elijah Just, but Iran equalized before half-time via Ramin Rezaeian. New Zealand regained the lead in the second half with Just’s second goal, assisted by Chris Wood, but Iran responded again through Mohammad Mohebbi’s header to level the score. The teams ultimately shared the points in a closely contested Group G encounter.
Iran arrived at the World Cup amid ongoing geopolitical tensions with the United States and Israel. The country moved its World Cup base camp from Arizona to Tijuana following uncertainty over entry arrangements to the United States.
The relocation followed weeks of concern about whether members of the Iranian delegation would obtain the necessary visas to travel for the tournament.
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