2026 World Cup Teams’ US Visa Progress in the Spotlight; What Canadian Fans Need to Know for Cross-Border Match Attendance

Updated: 2026-06-19｜Real-time information is subject to official announcements

The 2026 World Cup is being co-hosted for the first time by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the schedule spread across multiple cities in all three countries. For players and fans attending matches across borders, the question of “whether you can clear immigration smoothly” is worth sorting out ahead of time this edition more than any before. The issue that has drawn the most attention lately is the US visa saga surrounding Iran’s players.

According to reports from Indian outlet Deccan Herald and several other foreign media, Iranian forward Mehdi Torabi was initially granted a “single-entry” US visa, unlike his teammates who obtained “multiple-entry” visas. After Iran played its opening group-stage match in Los Angeles (a 2-2 draw against New Zealand), his single-entry visa expired. The Iranian Football Federation then coordinated with FIFA to secure a new multiple-entry visa for him, allowing him to stay with the squad for the rest of the campaign. In other words, this was not a smooth “obstacles cleared from the start” story, but a process of being stuck first and then remedied.

This saga also exposed a headache unique to this edition: reports indicate that the visas granted to the Iranian team came with strict conditions—they had to enter the US only the day before a match and leave the country on match day itself, with no extra time to rest. In addition, around 15 of the Iranian Football Federation’s administrative and management staff were denied US visas, and because of tense US-Iran relations, the team moved its training base from the originally planned Arizona in the US to Mexico. These details all remind everyone that when the host cities are scattered across three host countries, the complexity of visas and immigration really is in a different league from past editions with a single host country.

For fans on the Canadian side, the good news is that the bar is actually not that high, but the claims circulating online are often wrong. Travelling to the US on a Canadian passport does not require an ESTA application. ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) is for travellers from “Visa Waiver Program (VWP)” countries, and Canada is not on that program’s list—Canadian citizens fall into the visa-exempt category, and for ordinary tourism, visiting family or business they can generally enter on a valid passport, with a stay of up to six months. What you really need to watch is not ESTA but your passport validity and purpose of entry; just confirm before departure that your passport is still valid (permanent residents holding a Maple Leaf card have a different status and are advised to check the rules separately).

As for cross-region match attendance among the three countries, it becomes much clearer to look at the entry rules side by side:

In practice, Canada is hosting 13 matches this edition, concentrated in the two cities of Vancouver (BC Place) and Toronto (BMO Field); Toronto also staged the opening match between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, the first ever World Cup match played on Canadian soil. Many fans in Vancouver and Toronto will head south to the US along the way to catch a group-stage match or two, and that is when the difference shown above—”no ESTA for the US, a tourist form for Mexico”—comes in handy. With sizeable crowds in both cities during the tournament, it is advisable to arrange transport and accommodation early—in Vancouver you can take the SkyTrain to BC Place, while in Toronto you can take the TTC subway or bus to BMO Field. To keep up with each team’s schedule and the latest developments, see the official World Cup homepage.

One final reminder: visa policies, teams’ itineraries and squad departure arrangements may all change with the situation, and the Iran team’s case is the best proof of that. Before departure, be sure to go by the official announcements of the United States, Canada and Mexico and the latest FIFA information, and leave plenty of flexibility in your passport, entry forms and itinerary, so you won’t be caught scrambling at the last minute before the match.