Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei has publicly called on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to take a stand against the United States, accusing the tournament co-hosts of treating his team very unfairly throughout the 2026 World Cup.
Speaking after a dramatic 1-1 draw with Egypt in Seattle that kept Iran’s knockout hopes alive, Ghalenoei and captain Mehdi Taremi expressed profound frustration over severe logistical hurdles rooted in ongoing diplomatic tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Denied permission to base themselves in the US, the Iranian squad has been forced to reside in Tijuana, Mexico, flying across the border just hours before matches and being instructed to return immediately afterward.
The grueling schedule has left the players with inadequate time for standard physical recovery. Taremi, who explicitly labeled the tournament a “disaster,” also criticized the absence of 11 senior Iranian staff members, including crucial logistics personnel who were entirely denied US entry visas.
While acknowledging that Infantino has attempted to minimize the operational issues behind the scenes, Ghalenoei insisted that FIFA must intervene more forcefully to prevent host nations from subjecting participating teams to such unequal conditions in the future, maintaining that his squad’s ability to secure points under such immense logistical strain remains a historic achievement.
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