The 2026 World Cup is already discovering that a 48-team tournament can be expanded on paper faster than it can be opened at the border. Visa and entry problems have become an early pressure point for FIFA, with referees, officials, staff and supporters all facing questions that have little to do with tactics.
The most visible case is Somali referee Omar Artan, who was selected for the tournament but denied entry to the United States after arriving in Miami. His exclusion has moved the issue from administrative nuisance to tournament storyline, which is not usually where FIFA wants immigration policy to sit.
Access Is Becoming Part Of The Event
The Guardian reported that Iranian officials and staff have also faced visa refusals, while Iraq forward Aymen Hussein and team photographer Talal Salah were among those affected by stricter checks. South Africa's squad reportedly dealt with paperwork delays linked to Mexican visa requirements, and some supporters have seen approved travel authorizations revoked.
That is the uncomfortable shape of the problem: the World Cup sells itself as a global gathering, but the gate is still controlled country by country, stamp by stamp, interview by interview. Football likes to imagine itself above politics. Airports have a way of being less romantic about that.
FIFA's Promise Meets Host-Country Rules
The tournament will be staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico, making travel rules more than a background detail. Teams and fans may cross borders during the same event, and every extra layer of paperwork adds another place where the grand idea of a shared football festival can slow down.
FIFA can appoint referees, award hosting rights and draw up a match calendar. It cannot wave through every visa applicant. That gap matters because the 2026 edition is supposed to be the biggest and most inclusive World Cup yet; if access becomes uneven, the slogan starts doing more work than the system behind it.
The Real Opening Whistle
The first match will still bring the usual noise: anthems, flags, television graphics and the temporary feeling that the world is neatly arranged around a ball. But before that, the tournament has to answer a less glamorous question: who actually gets into the room? For FIFA, that may be the first real test of 2026. Not the draw, not the bracket, not even the favorites. The paperwork.