FIFA has confirmed that Iran will play all three of its 2026 World Cup group-stage games in the United States, including two at Los Angeles, where the large Iranian-American community is expected to give Team Melli a rare home-style advantage.
The international football federation (FIFA) on Saturday released the final schedule for Iran’s matches at the 2026 World Cup, one day after Iran was drawn with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand.
The federation confirmed that Iran will face the three teams at venues in the West coast of the United States.
Iran’s opening two games — against New Zealand and Belgium — will be held at Los Angeles’ 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium, effectively placing Team Melli in the heart of one of the largest Iranian diaspora hubs in the world.
Los Angeles, home to an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Iranian-Americans, has long been known for its concentrated Iranian cultural presence, especially in neighborhoods like Westwood, also known as Tehrangeles or Little Persia.
Team Melli has experienced this before. In 1999, during a friendly with the United States at the Rose Bowl, more than 100,000 Iranian fans filled the stands, surpassing the stadium’s official 92,000-seat capacity and creating a near-home atmosphere. That match ended 1–1, with Iran scoring through Mehdi Mahdavikia.
Iran’s third match, against Egypt, will take place in Seattle, Washington, where analysts estimate more than 50,000 Iranian-Americans live. Fans from other states are also expected to travel, likely ensuring strong support despite the city’s sizeable Arab and Egyptian communities.
If Iran advances as the group’s second-place team — considered one of the more plausible scenarios — the team would remain in the United States for the first knockout round, extending what many are already calling an accidental home-field advantage.
Not alone despite travel ban
The White House on Wednesday said Iran’s national team will be allowed to enter the United States for the World Cup but suggested that Iranian fans will be barred, citing existing travel bans and declined to rule out immigration raids at matches.
“The President has, in his executive order, certainly named Iran as one of the countries whose teams will be exempt to come here,” the head of the White House task force on the World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, told reporters.
Asked whether there would be ICE raids at matches, Giuliani said “the President does not rule out anything that will help make American citizens safer.”
While there are concerns that fans traveling from Iran and other countries may be unable to secure US visas under the Trump administration's restrictions, the large Iranian diaspora already living in America is expected to more than compensate.
