Home-based fans for Senegal and Ivory Coast have been denied visas to the United States, preventing them from attending the World Cup. The president of the Ivory Coast national supporters’ committee and an official from the Senegalese sports ministry shared the news with AFP. “The supporters have cancelled the trip because the US government does not want to see supporters from certain countries, including Ivory Coast, on its soil. The United States has been clear with us, saying they do not want to see our supporters,” said Julien Kouadio Adonis, president of Ivory Coast’s National Committee of Elephants Supporters (CNSE), according to the outlet. “This situation hurts us deeply because it prevents us from fulfilling our sacred duty, which is to support our team,” Adonis added. JUST IN: Some Ivory Coast fans have been denied visas to the United States “The supporters have cancelled the trip because the US government does not want to see supporters from certain countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, on its soil” – President of the CNSE pic.twitter.com/xQ2BDjhSTg — Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) June 11, 2026 AFP has more: The Ivory Coast supporters’ group operates under the country’s sports ministry to organise trips for the country’s small number of travelling fans to follow the team abroad. Ivory Coast play two of their three group matches in Philadelphia, against Ecuador on June 14 and Curacao on June 25 either side of a trip to Toronto to face Germany. In March, Kouadio told AFP he hoped 500 fans would travel across the Atlantic. He said a handful of CNSE officials had been authorised to travel to the World Cup where they will be “look after the Ivorian supporters based in the United States”, he said. The CNSE estimates there will be more than 1,000 at matches. The run-up to the World Cup, which kicks off in Mexico City later Thursday, has been dogged by the visa policies of the main host nation, the United States. Senegal fans have faced similar difficulties obtaining visas, the report said. It’s the first time home-based fans of Senegal will not be attending a World Cup the country has qualified for. Senegal made the World Cup in 2002, 2018, and 2022. “It is the first time we will not be sending a delegation because of restrictions linked to the granting of visas by the United States,” Ndeye Dome Thiouf, the communications advisor to the sports ministry, told AFP. Senegal plays two of its group stage matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while it plays the other contest in Toronto.