Italy’s repechage to World Cup, Iran froze by White House: "We won’t allow it"

There are 13 days left until Iran’s World Cup 2026 debut against New Zealand in Los Angeles, and ‘Team Melli’s’ participation in the rainbow event is again in the balance. Tehran’s selection, which is training in Turkey, is expected to leave over the weekend for Tijuana, Mexico, where the new training venue has been set up after the Trump administration’s refusal to host the team in Arizona. Visas for the players and coaching staff, however, have not yet arrived.

The concern is especially for multiple-entry visas for the U.S. In fact, Iran will have to cross the U.S.-Mexico border three times in order to play its games, twice in Los Angeles and once in Seattle. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told parliamentarians Tuesday that the U.S. will not allow Iranians linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) to infiltrate the country’s delegation to attend the World Cup, which begins this month.

Despite the war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran in late February, Rubio said Washington has “no problem” with the entry of the Iranian national soccer team and its support staff into the country. “What we will not allow is for them to include in their delegation a group of people who we know have nothing to do with sports and have ties to the IRGC or realities of that nature, so we will monitor the situation very closely,” Rubio said during a hearing before a House of Representatives committee according to Reuters reports. Several of Iran’s players and several executives who will accompany the team have a past in the IRGC.

The Group G schedule includes three challenges for Iran all on U.S. soil: June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, June 21 against Belgium also in Los Angeles, and June 26 against Egypt in Seattle. It is precisely New Zealand, Team Melli’s next opponent in the opener, that is completing its preparation: the All Whites played a friendly against Haiti at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Tuesday night and will face England in another pre-World Cup test on June 6.

In the background of this tangled affair remains Italy, the first national team excluded in the FIFA rankings among those not qualified and a potential beneficiary of an eventual Iranian forfeit under Article 6.7 of FIFA regulations. However, the Azzurri’s hopes are at rock bottom: even Paolo Zampolli, special envoy of the Trump administration and main sponsor of the Italian cause, has given up. “My dream and that of many was to have Italy with us. I had suggested to the president and to Gianni Infantino that, in case Iran did not come for whatever reason, Italy could be brought back,” he told the microphones of Radio Rai GR Parlamento. “Unfortunately, things did not turn out that way and we have Iran training in Mexico. Iran’s players will only be allowed to come and play on the day in the U.S. and then return.”