Italy’s repechage to the World Cup: l'Iran wins first match but concern growing
Iran’s preparations for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States, and Mexico continue even as the shadow of visas that are still delayed from the US looms over the team. Ghalenoei’s team returned to the field for the first time since March and faced Gambia in a friendly test in Turkey, which ended 3-1 for Tehran’s selection.
At Antalya, Iran found themselves trailing 1-0 at halftime against Gambia (Omar Colley’s goal), but in the second half they reversed the result by scoring three times in 20 minutes through Aria Yousefi (47′), Ramin Rezaeian (59′) and Mehdi Taremi (68′).
On Thursday, Iran will play another friendly against Mali before leaving for Tijuana, Mexico, where the national team will have its base camp during the World Cup, moved there from Arizona after the U.S. refused to host Team Melli. Meanwhile, Iranian players are still waiting for their visas to enter the United States, where they will have to play their three group matches against New Zealand, Belgium (both matches in Los Angeles) and Egypt (in Seattle).
Iranian federation president Mehdi Taj raised his voice, saying he expects Washington to issue multiple-entry visas as soon as possible: “The U.S. must grant multiple-entry visas to all players, as they will have to leave and re-enter the U.S. many times.” Words echoed by Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, who spoke openly of violating the principles of fair sportsmanship: “That country in the north has not fulfilled its commitment to host the Iranian national team, and we don’t know whether they will send visas or not. We are not participating in the World Cup on equal terms because we have not been able to train our team as we should have.”
In the background of this tangled diplomatic and sporting affair, the issue of Italy’s repechage remains lurking. Under Article 6.7 of FIFA regulations-which provides for the possibility of replacing a withdrawn or excluded association with another federation-the Azzurri could be a candidate in the event of an Iranian forfeit. Hopes are growing dimmer in any case.
