Between FIFA's rhetoric and visa rejections, the contradictions of the 2026 World Cup

On June 5, 2026, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) sent a letter to FIFA denouncing U.S. visa denials for accredited journalists from Iran and several African countries, some of whom received only single-entry authorizations, preventing them from following their teams to Canada or Mexico. The U.S. maintains travel bans on Iran, Haiti, Senegal, and Ivory Coast—all World Cup qualifiers—while additional visa bonds apply to Algeria, Cape Verde, and Tunisia. In contrast, Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 did not impose nationality-based access restrictions. FIFA referred responsibility to U.S. immigration authorities, and the State Department did not comment.