World Cup joy out of reach for thousands shut out by US border policies

The 2026 World Cup has kicked off across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Amid the fanfare of the tournament, significant barriers to entry continue to mar the event.

Trump administration travel bans restrict entry for fans from several countries, exclusively targeting nations in the Global South,  most of them in Africa or the Middle East. These restrictions make it difficult or impossible for scores of would-be traveling fans to support their national teams in person.

Other fans have found it difficult to obtain necessary visas. The BBC described the difficulties of Abdulla Adnan, an Iraqi fan trying to obtain a visa to enter the US for the World Cup. Iraq is not currently on any US travel ban or restriction list, but since the beginning of the US-Iran conflict, American embassies in Iraq have been closed for security concerns. That left Adnan with no practical pathway to watch Iraq’s first World Cup appearance since 1986.

Fans from countries with travel restrictions face similarly daunting obstacles. Visa applications are expensive, and countries such as Ghana, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have seen rejection rates well above the worldwide average.

Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly addressed the impact directly. “The [Senegalese soccer] federation did the work for us to have parents or our close family with us,” Koulibaly told The Athletic. “But it’s true that some supporters couldn’t fly to America. I think that every team can have their people, so I don’t understand why people from Africa cannot have their people.”

Sometimes, obtaining the proper documents has not been enough. Days before the tournament’s first matches, Somali referee Omar Artan was barred from entering the US despite holding a diplomatic visa, turned away at Miami International Airport by border officials. The incident led many to question the inclusiveness of the tournament as a whole.

The treatment of the Iranian team has drawn particularly sharp criticism. While the players and coaches gained entry to the US, many staff members were denied visas and FIFA revoked the tickets of Iranian fans. The players themselves face severe restrictions: though the team’s group stage games are in Los Angeles and Seattle, they must stay in Tijuana, Mexico, allowed into the US only one day before each match and required to leave immediately after the final whistle.

Iranian team captain Mehdi Taremi was blunt. “Everything is like [a] disaster,” he told reporters after a 2-2 draw against New Zealand. Coach Amir Ghalenoei echoed the frustration. “After the game today they said to us: ‘You have to leave immediately,'” Ghalenoei said. “They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.”

Just a week in, no story captured the human cost of US border policy more plainly than that of Vozinha, the Cabo Verdean goalkeeper who earned Man of the Match honors after his country held powerhouse Spain to a 0-0 draw in Cabo Verde’s first ever World Cup game. After his standout performance, Vozinha revealed that his mother had not been able to watch in person. “My mum could not be here … for a visa issue, and the money we had to pay for it,” he said. “We did not manage to do this in time.”

His case drew immediate attention. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries implored the State Department to intervene, and Vozinha’s family will be able to attend Cabo Verde’s next match. But for thousands of fans from the Global South who got no such consideration, the celebration going on inside the stadiums has remained out of reach.

Noah Riccardi is a recent Macalester College graduate and contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.