Iran's soccer team arrived in the United States for the first time at this World Cup on Sunday, landing at Los Angeles International Airport and holding a press conference on the same day that a peace deal between the two nations was announced.
Iran's World Cup football team has finally received visas to enter the United States, just days before their first match in Los Angeles.
At the Iran-Belgium FIFA World Cup match, least one attendee wearing a pre-revolutionary flag shirt was detained for trying to run onto the pitch and Iranian player Alireza Jahanbakhsh said after the match that he doesn't want to keep focusing on the challenging situations faced by his team.
A Toronto cannabis store destroyed its World Cup trophy-inspired "FIFA Bong" after receiving a copyright infringement notice from FIFA, but the owners say the dispute generated more publicity than they ever expected.
The Trump administration said on Tuesday the United States had denied Somali soccer referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan entry for the World Cup because of his links to "suspected members of terror organizations".
Iran's national soccer team attended visa appointments in Ankara, Turkey, applying for Canadian visas and some players also submitting applications for US entry ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Iran's national soccer team will sleep in Mexico and travel to the US on the days of its three FIFA World Cup matches after Washington declined to host the squad for the tournament.
Iran's national soccer team, currently training in Tijuana, Mexico, will be able to enter the US the day before each of their three World Cup matches, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization have all described the risk of Ebola to World Cup host countries as low, citing measles, COVID-19 and influenza -- which spread when large crowds gather -- as the most likely threats.
For Iran's team, the FIFA World Cup has been marred by fraught politics at home, the war with the US, and tensions over whether they would actually be able to set foot on US soil to play their games.
Former Germany World Cup winner and manager Juergen Klinsmann was named United States coach on Friday, the U.S. soccer federation said.
Iran to attend World Cup draw after boycott threat over visa issues
Advocacy groups issued a travel advisory on Thursday, warning that visitors traveling to the US for the 2026 World Cup may face arbitrary detention or deportation, among other human rights abuses.
High costs, visa hurdles, and logistics for the World Cup are deterring fans, leading to a disappointing boost for US hotels, airlines, and the travel industry.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football.
Amid an escalating regional war, questions deepen over whether Iran's soccer team will compete at this year's FIFA World Cup to be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday that he met with United States President Donald Trump, who told him he welcomed Iran's participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Protests on multiple fronts disrupted the atmosphere outside the FIFA Congress in Vancouver on Thursday, as demonstrators raised sharply different concerns over global politics and local issues.
Iran's men's national soccer team wore black armbands and held schoolbags as their anthem played ahead of a match in Turkey on Friday, in what a team official said was a protest over the killing of schoolgirls on the first day of the Iran war.
Iran cannot participate in the 2026 World Cup after co-host the US launched airstrikes alongside Israel, Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday.
Iran's participation in this year's World Cup has been called into question after co-hosts the United States launched joint air strikes at the country along with Israel at the weekend.
US Soccer said they expect to announce an interim coach within the next seven to 10 days, who will oversee two planned friendlies in November.
All 28 members of the US women's squad sued the governing body for soccer in the United States, alleging gender discrimination
The first edition of FIFA's new 32-team Club World Cup will be held in the United States in 2025, world soccer's governing body said on Friday.
The escalating conflict involving the U.S. and Israel with Iran has led to widespread disruption in the world of sports, with events postponed, travel plans thrown into chaos, and athletes seeking asylum.
Guadalajara violence postpones matches, FIFA monitoring World Cup host city
A US judge has dismissed much of a lawsuit by soccer players and parents seeking to force FIFA and other governing bodies to change the sport's rules to limit the risk of concussions and other head injuries, especially for children.
Referees felt Harshaan Athwal's patka was a safety risk to players of the opposing team.
Authorities in Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday launched an operation to arrest several high-ranking FIFA officials on corruption charges and extradite them to the United States, the New York Times reported.
The United States Soccer Federation temporarily displayed Iran's national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic as a show of solidarity with protesters in Iran ahead of the two teams' World Cup clash on Tuesday.
Guatemalan police on Tuesday arrested fugitive former national soccer federation president Brayan Jimenez in connection with a corruption probe into the sport's world governing body FIFA.
Close to half of women soccer fans in England and Wales have personally experienced sexist or misogynistic abuse at matches but most have never reported it to authorities, a new study by anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out revealed on Wednesday.
The United States has asked Switzerland to extradite seven FIFA officials arrested in an investigation into a global bribery scandal at soccer's governing body, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said on Thursday.
The US women's soccer team's claims for equal pay were dismissed by a court on Friday, handing a victory to the United States Soccer Federation. Judge R Gary Klausner of the United States District Court for the Central District of California threw out players' claims that they were under paid in comparison with the men's national team but allowed complaints of unfair medical, travel and training to proceed to trial.
The US women's national team has called on the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to repeal a policy forbidding players from kneeling during the national anthem and issue an apology to black players and fans. The USSF will hold a special meeting on Tuesday to consider scrapping the rule, which requires players to "stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented".
United States President Donald Trump has said he will not watch National Football League (NFL) or US soccer team matches if players do not stand for the national anthem. The US Soccer Federation last week said it had dropped its requirement that players stand during the anthem, saying the policy was wrong and detracted from the Black Lives Matter movement.
'Of course, our thoughts are with the Iran people, the players and the whole country, but our focus is on this match.'
The United States Soccer Federation said in a statement on the new charges that its hosting of the 2016 Copa America Centenario tournament would go ahead as planned.
The American football team's success in the World Cup has an Indian connection. Sunil Gulati, an Indian-American native of Allahabad, who currently heads the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), is being credited for the US soccer team's rise.
