The United States has made live a priority visa appointment system for international football fans holding tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The move is designed to ease entry bottlenecks ahead of the tournament in June and July 2026. The new ‘FIFA Pass’ will allow confirmed ticket holders to request earlier visa interview slots at US embassies and consulates around the world. FIFA has reported record-breaking ticket sales for the tournament.
The 2026 tournament will feature 48 teams and 104 matches, with the US hosting the lion’s share of 78 games across 11 cities. Organisers expect up to ten million international visitors to travel across North America during the competition. Estimated global audience reach of around five billion viewers could mean the 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to be the most widely consumed and attended sporting event in history.
US President Donald Trump said the administration had been working “tirelessly” to ensure that fans could be processed efficiently while maintaining the country’s levels of security controls. The State Department has set the goal for applicants in more than 80% of countries to be able tosecure visa appointments within 60 days.
“This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the beauty and the greatness of America. And we can’t wait to welcome soccer fans from all over the globe,” Trump wrote in a press release announcing the guidelines for the visa programme.
The State Department has also released a statement that said: “The United States Department of State is surging over 450 extra staffers to consulates around the world to make sure that we can continue to decrease these appointment times. And we’ve already created an additional 300,000 additional visas, and that number is projected to be in the millions by early next year, and hopefully by tournament time even more.”
The FIFA Pass does not guarantee visa approval and applicants must still meet standard eligibility requirements and pass security checks. However, the new system should help citizens of countries where US visa appointment have typically long wait times.
Supporters from Haiti and Iran, who both qualified for the tournament, will still face full entry restrictions, while Ivory Coast and Senegal are subject to partial limits. Although players and team staff are exempt. Citizens of Visa Waiver Programme countries, including most of Europe, japan and Australia, will not need to use the FIFA Pass and can continue to travel under the ESTA system.
Photo: Courtesy 2026 FIFA World Cup
