Iran football team complains about unfair travel restrictions, but schedule is not unique

Iran's national football team has expressed dissatisfaction with travel restrictions imposed during the 2026 World Cup. The team states it is forced to arrive at match venues only one day before games and return to its base camp immediately after, which it considers unfair and detrimental to players' physical and mental condition.

However, this schedule is not unusual. FIFA regulation 18.3 stipulates that teams must travel to match venues one day before the game (MD-1) and return the following day (MD/MD+1). Many other teams follow a similar routine. For example, the US team flew 1,580 kilometers to Seattle a day before its match against Australia and planned to return to its hotel right after the game.

Iran's federation announced that its request to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match against Belgium was denied, and it will file a complaint with FIFA. Additionally, some team staff members were unable to obtain visas to enter the US, and player Mehdi Torabi had to visit the US consulate after the first match to get a new visa.

For comparison, Bosnia and Herzegovina has the longest total group stage travel, covering 9,460 kilometers, while the US team covered 14,484 kilometers during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In 2022 in Qatar, all stadiums were within 50 kilometers, allowing teams to stay in one hotel, but the current format with 48 teams and 16 cities across three countries makes longer trips inevitable.