The head coach of the Iran national team, Amir Ghalenoei, has accused the United States of forcing the team out of the country immediately after the 2-2 draw against New Zealand in their opening 2026 FIFA World Cup match in Los Angeles on Monday.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Mr Ghalenoei revealed that the team had planned to spend the night in California before flying to their training base in Tijuana, Mexico, but were told by officials to leave American soil just after the full-time whistle.

“They didn’t even give us time to recover. After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, (but) we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that,” Mr Ghalenoei said.

He added, “We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is being made elsewhere.”

The team had moved their base from the United States to Mexico ahead of the tournament in the aftermath of the war in the Middle East between the Islamic Republic and the North American country.

Mr Ghalenoei further disclosed that the team was expecting to arrive in the United States two days before the match against New Zealand and depart for Mexico the next morning after recovery.

He maintained that Iran is the most oppressed team in the tournament.

“We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and return tomorrow at lunchtime. We have no idea why. I think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup,” the coach explained.

However, Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, has rejected Mr Ghalenoei’s accusations, stating that the team was aware in advance that they would only be permitted to enter the U.S. a day before their matches and would be required to depart immediately after each game.

“The team will be allowed to come in, match day minus one, so the day before the match. They’ll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up, so the evening of the match. And they’ll be able to do that again in Los Angeles. They’ll be able to do it again in Seattle,” Mr Giuliani told CBS.