Italy repechage to World Cup, trouble not only for Iran: twist for another national team
While Iran’s participation in the 2026 World Cup continues to hang in the balance due to the war in the Persian Gulf, another selection from that region is facing major difficulties ahead of the World Cup kicking off in less than a month in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
The Iraqi national soccer team is likely to show up at the 2026 World Cup with some major absences due to problems with the issuance of entry visas in the United States. According to a report by the Iraqi website Shafak News, citing Ghaleb Al-Zameli, a member of the Iraq Football Federation, some of the national team’s players have not yet been granted U.S. visas.
Al-Zameli said, “The players who have so far failed to receive visas are Ibrahim Bayesh, Mohannad Ali, Zaid Tahseen, Haider Abdulkarim and Ali Al-Hamadi. At the moment, no official explanation has been given as to the reason for the rejection or delay.”
The Iraqi Federation intends to address the issue through FIFA to find a solution as soon as possible. The problem is particularly acute because key elements of the Iraqi roster are involved. Football authorities in Baghdad fear that further delays could jeopardize the team’s preparation program for the final phase of the World Cup. Iraq is included in the group with France, Norway and Senegal.
Iraq’s problems cast new shadows on Iran’s participation in the World Cup: the Iranian federation will go to Zurich specifically to seek reassurances on a number of points, including visas denied to several players. The diplomatic knot related to Iran has been clarified by U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, according to whom “the problem would not be the athletes, but some of the other people Iran would like to bring, some of whom have ties to the Revolutionary Guards.”
A position that further complicates the picture and is now intertwined with the bureaucratic difficulties that are also affecting Iraqi players. Italy and other eliminated national teams are interested bystanders because a replacement may be needed: time is running out.
