{"id":112101,"date":"2026-05-13T15:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/112101\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:50:13","slug":"five-iraqi-players-denied-visas-just-a-month-before-fifa-world-cup-in-donald-trump-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/112101\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Iraqi players ‘denied’ visas just a month before FIFA World Cup in Donald Trump crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

With just one month to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup officially kicks off, the U.S. has reportedly denied visas for five Iraqi players hoping to represent their nation this summer<\/p>\n

08:10 ET, 13 May 2026Updated 10:52 ET, 13 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Iraq<\/p>\n

Iraq qualified for its first World Cup in 40 years back in March, but is now struggling to obtain visas into the U.S. for all of its players<\/p>\n

The Iraqi national soccer team has become the latest victim of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown after five of its players were reportedly denied visas into the U.S just a month out from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

Iraq became the 46th and final team to secure its spot at this summer’s tournament<\/a> when it defeated Bolivia in the inter-confederation play-offs on March 31, but with just 30 days to go until the action gets underway in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, head coach Graham Arnold could now be forced into rethinking his squad plans.<\/p>\n

President Trump<\/a>‘s numerous travel bans since his return to office in January 2025 have already caused several headaches for participating nations and their fans, most notably the indefinite freeze on immigrant visa processing<\/a> for 18 nations already qualified for the World Cup<\/a> – including Iraq.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Paul Finebaum offers honest opinion on ‘drama queen’ Lane Kiffin<\/a>READ MORE: Male WNBA reporter faces backlash after questioning locker room policy<\/a><\/p>\n

Having only qualified for the tournament just a few months before the World Cup gets underway, Iraq has had less time than other qualified nations affected by the immigrant visa processing freeze to ensure everything is in place for its players and staff to gain access to the United States come June.<\/p>\n

However, it has now been reported that five players from Iraq have had their visa applications denied, with local broadcaster and news outlet NTV Iraq, per Daily Sports<\/a>, revealing that one of those is star player Ali Al-Hamadi.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old striker, who spent the most recent campaign on loan at EFL club Luton Town from Ipswich Town, scored the opener in Iraq’s 2-1 victory over Bolivia that secured the nation’s first World Cup appearance in 40 years.<\/p>\n

\"Iraq<\/p>\n

Iraq’s striker Ali Al-Hamadi is reportedly one of the five players struggling to obtain visas ahead of the World Cup<\/p>\n

The decision to deny their visa applications means the five players are now unable to join the national team for pre-tournament preparations and matches scheduled on U.S. soil, though the White House has since vehemently denied such reports.<\/p>\n

“Currently, there are no known issues affecting the Iraq National Team players, and they remain on track to compete in the World Cup,” said Andrew Giuliani of Trump’s World Cup Task Force to Front Office Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We maintain daily communication with FIFA and will continue to prioritize these players in accordance with the President’s Executive Order, ensuring an incredible and safe tournament.”<\/p>\n

Iraq is due to be based at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia<\/a>, throughout the duration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and will train at the nearby Greenbrier Sports Performance Center.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has halted visa applications from 18 World Cup participating countries(Image: Jim Lo Scalzo\/EPA\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Lions of Mesopotamia will take on Norway in their Group I opener at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts<\/a>, on June 16, before facing France at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia<\/a>, Pennsylvania<\/a>, on June 22.<\/p>\n

Iraq’s final group game against Senegal on June 26 is being played in Canada at BMO Field in Toronto, easing any visa woes, but if the team advances further in the tournament, it will likely play out the remainder of its matches in the U.S., as this is where the majority of the knockout stages will be held.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, fellow Middle Eastern nation Iran<\/a> remains on course to compete at the 2026 World Cup despite the country’s ongoing war with the United States<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ever since President Trump sanctioned strikes on Iran at the end of February, targeting nuclear facilities, missile infrastructure, and leadership, there have been major doubts over Team Melli’s participation at this summer’s event, yet FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has reiterated that Iran will continue to participate and play their games in the U.S.<\/a> as scheduled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With just one month to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup officially kicks off, the U.S. has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[6243,1680,94],"class_list":{"0":"post-112101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","9":"tag-immigration","10":"tag-iraq"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116568065514287003","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}