Ivory Coast to Play World Cup Without Home-Based Fans as US Visa Restrictions Bite

Ivory Coast will compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup without several hundred of its home-based supporters after they were denied US visitor visas under restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, the president of the country’s national supporters’ committee told AFP on Thursday.

The development means the Ivorian national team, the Elephants, will have to rely on diaspora fans already in the United States, estimated to number more than 1,000, according to the supporters’ committee. Only supporters who secured US visitor visas before December are permitted to travel.

The visa difficulties stem from a broader US policy targeting countries with high rates of visa overstays. In 2025, Ivory Coast and Senegal were among 50 countries placed on a list requiring visitors to pay a bond of up to 15,000 dollars before entering the United States. In May 2026, the Trump administration announced it would waive the bond requirement for fans from five African nations that qualified for the World Cup – Algeria, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia – provided they had purchased valid tickets and registered through FIFA’s visa facilitation system by April 15.

Despite the waiver, Ivory Coast and Senegal supporters continue to face immigration barriers due to ongoing US travel restrictions and missed visa application deadlines. The United States has imposed entry restrictions on nationals from 39 countries, ranging from partial limitations to outright bans. Among those are four countries whose national teams qualified for the tournament: Haiti and Iran face complete entry bans, while Ivory Coast and Senegal face partial restrictions. Although players are exempt from the presidential ban, fans have no pathway to acquire tourist visas to support their teams, and player families cannot watch their loved ones play in the biggest matches.

Julien Kouadio, president of Ivory Coast’s national supporters’ group, said fans had given up on travelling because the US government does not want to see supporters from certain countries on its territory. The 2026 World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. Previous World Cup host nations including South Africa in 2010, Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 eased visa policies for ticketholders, but the United States has adopted the widest nationality-based exclusion

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