The FIFA World Cup is set to kick-off on June 11. Currently soccer players from all across the globe are making their way to the United States, Canada and Mexico who will be hosting the FIFA World Cup. For the most part players have been able to enter the host countries without any problems but one member of Iraq’s national soccer team had the opposite experience. Striker for Iraq’s national soccer team, Aymen Hussein, was questioned for nearly 7 hours after his team arrived to O’Hare International airport in Chicago. Reuters reported more on the incident and revealed one person who came with Iraq’s national team was barred from entering the United States: Iraq’s World Cup striker, Aymen Hussein, was held and questioned for nearly seven ​hours at Chicago’s O’Hare airport after arriving with the squad ‌early on Saturday, an Iraqi sporting official said. Hussein was finally allowed in, but the team’s photographer was barred from entering the United States, said the ​official who works for the Iraqi Olympic Committee, but has ​close contacts with the team. There was no immediate comment ⁠from the Iraqi Football Association, or from Hussein, a talismanic figure who scored ​the goal that secured the team’s qualification for the finals. U.S. Immigration ​and Customs Enforcement and the Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the reported questioning that was also covered by Iraqi ​media. Fans came out in the early hours of the morning to ​greet the Iraq squad at the airport, holding flags and asking players to ‌pose ⁠for pictures less than a week before the start of the tournament, video on social media showed. Aymen Hussein was later captured in a photo leaving the airport without any problems: خلـوا العـالم تعـرف أن الولايـات المتحـدة لا تستحـق تنظيـم كـأس العـالم، تم أحتجاز لاعب المنتخب العراقي أيمن حسين للتحقيق لمدة 7 ساعات من قبل السلطات الأمريكية في مطار شيكاغو!!!!!! تخيلوا رحلة مدتها 12 ساعة بالأضافة 7 ساعات حجز للتحقيق بدون سبب واضح، ضاع يوم اللاعب. pic.twitter.com/ij8O4slizV — Hayder (@hay23ds) June 6, 2026 Iraq is not only the only soccer team to have one of its staffers barred from entering the United States. The New York Times reported several staffers part of Iran’s national soccer team had their visas denied: After months of uncertainty about its participation at the World Cup, Iran’s soccer team has finally been granted visas to enter the United States, where it is scheduled to play all three of its group stage games, according to four senior officials. With their country at war with one of the World Cup hosts, the United States — a first in the tournament’s near-100-year history — Iranian soccer players and officials were forced to wait almost until the start of the event to find out whether they would actually be allowed to compete. On Friday, an Iranian official was quickly dispatched to collect passports that had been handed in as part of the approval process, one official said. Applications from all members of the 26-man roster have been accepted, but more than a dozen members of the support staff — that could include coaches, trainers, analysts and medical personnel — and Iranian soccer federation officials expected to accompany the team were rejected, according to the four officials. The president of the Iranian federation, Mehdi Taj, a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also had his visa rejected, the first official added. FIFA, soccer’s governing body whose president, Gianni Infantino, has developed a close relationship with President Trump, had been working behind the scenes to handle one of the biggest crises in tournament history, Mr. Taj told The New York Times in an interview earlier this week. Mr. Infantino had met with Iranian officials in March, and his deputy, Secretary General Mattias Grafström, traveled to Turkey last month as Iran arrived to begin a weekslong training camp. The four officials who confirmed the Iranian visas were approved have direct knowledge of the team’s visa status, but were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. One, an administration official, said the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup were issued to athletes and necessary support staff. The official said that the system would not be abused to allow anyone to be admitted to the country under false pretenses. Paolo Zampolli, a longtime Trump ally and the administration’s Special Representative for Global Partnerships, told The Times the decision to limit who could enter the United States was taken to “protect the homeland.” Will you be watching the World Cup? This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.