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How Will Donald Trump’s United States Travel Ban Impact Teams At The 2026 World Cup? q3869
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished05 Jun 2025
Donald Trump has introduced a travel ban against 12 countries to ‘protect the national interest of the United States’, but how will this impact teams travelling to the country for the 2026 World Cup?
Trump Introduces U.S. Travel Ban Ahead of 2026 World Cup 4x663k
United States President Donald Trump introduced a travel ban against 12 different countries on Wednesday, which could have a knock-on effect on football fans heading to the country for next year’s World Cup.
Trump states that the move is ‘protecting the national security and national interest of the United States and its people’.
The ban comes into effect next week, on Monday, 9 June, and relates to the entry of immigrants and non-immigrants.
Citizens of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will be impacted, as they will no longer be permitted entry into the country.
Meanwhile, partial restrictions and limits have been placed on citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The move comes less than two weeks out from the start of the FIFA Club World Cup and just over a year away from the FIFA World Cup, which will be tly hosted by the U.S. alongside Mexico and Canada.
Additionally, Concacaf is holding the Gold Cup in the States this summer, with Haiti among the competing teams.
Which Banned Countries Have Qualified For The World Cup? 451r1t
The only nation included as part of the travel ban to have already secured World Cup qualification is Iran.
Amir Ghalenoei’s side sealed their spot at next summer’s tournament after guaranteeing a top two finish in their third round World Cup qualification group. They are currently top of their group with two games remaining, and are assured of at least second place. Their group consists of Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea.
Pressure? Handled. Expectations? Met. 💪
Relive 🇮🇷 IR Iran’s path through the #AsianQualifiers so far ⚽#JourneyTo26 | @qatarairways pic.twitter.com/nqoWCcoOVv
— #AsianQualifiers (@afcasiancup) June 4, 2025
How will the travel ban impact the team and the travelling ers then?
Thankfully for the squad, the executive order includes an exemption for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary role, and immediate relatives, travelling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State.”
This doesn’t bode well for ers though, as there is no mention as to whether they will be allowed to visit. Players’ close friends and family, not deemed ‘immediate relatives’, also seemingly won’t be permitted entry.
Haiti and Libya are still able to qualify for the tournament as well, and they would be in the same situation as Iran.
As for nations with partial travel bans, Venezuela, Cuba and Sierra Leone are still in the running for qualification. It appears that these countries will be able to send their squads to the tournament, however access for ers may be limited.
FIFA: “America Will Welcome The World” To World Cup 3i1u5c
Speaking earlier this year, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “America will welcome the world. Everyone who wants to come here to enjoy, to have fun and to celebrate the game, will be able to do that.”
This seemingly isn’t the case anymore with Trump’s latest travel ban, however.
Infantino also previously stated: “It’s obvious when it comes to FIFA competitions, any team, including the ers and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup.”
Vice President J.D. Vance, meanwhile, said: “Of course everyone is welcome to come and see this wonderful event. We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games.
“But when the time is up, we want them to go home, otherwise they will have to talk to Secretary Noem.”
Of course, the situation could change before the tournament, but the current state of affairs won’t breed confidence in fans looking to attend, both from nations included in the travel ban and those from nations that aren’t.
The World Cup is due to get underway in just over a year, on 11 June, 2026, and runs until 19 July, 2026.