Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said his team are the "most oppressed" at the 2026 World Cup as he hit out against the team's treatment in the United States.Iran's preparations for this summer's global finals have faced a series of hurdles since the US and Israel launched joint attacks on the Islamic Republic on February 28.A peace deal was reached between the US and Iran on Sunday, only hours before the team boarded a plane for Los Angeles from their base in Mexico.Several of Iran's World Cup delegation were denied entry visas to the US, meaning they had to watch the team's opening fixture on Monday (early morning in the UAE) on TV in Mexico.Team Melli, roared on by a passionate Iranian-American crowd, twice equalised to earn a 2-2 draw against New Zealand in what many believe to be the most entertaining match at the World Cup so far.Coach Amir Ghalenoei welcomed the fans’ support, but said it had not been matched by those responsible for managing the team’s movements in what is believed to be a strong criticism of the US authorities. Iran had to leave the US immediately after the match to return to Mexico.“We’ve spent so much time commuting in the air,” he said.“They didn’t even give us time to recover after the game today. They said we had to leave immediately.“It’s very important for us to have time for recovery and yet we were asked to return to Tijuana and we are really troubled by that.“We do not know why they are returning us. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us; decisions are made elsewhere. We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game and we were not permitted; we were supposed to stay tonight and return tomorrow lunchtime but I have no idea why, and they haven’t told us.“Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.“The federation is absent here. Our media isn’t here. Our management team, many of them aren’t here. We used to have a part of a coaching team to help with substitutions but we didn’t have that. Many in the technical area had to deal with that.”Team captain Mehdi Taremi walks off during the half-time break against New Zealand. EPAInfoIran captain Mehdi Taremi described their treatment as a “disaster” and revealed Fifa president Gianni Infantino had been in the dressing room, offering to “help” the team.Footage of Infantino published on X sees him telling the players “you are stronger than everything”, “this is just the beginning” adding that the team were “writing history, the whole world is watching you”.Infantino is also understood to have told the players he would do what he could to ensure more of the Iranian delegation, who did not receive visas, could travel to the US for their remaining group games, against Belgium on Sunday and Egypt on June 27.Taremi added: “We don’t have our president, and no one from staff, also, which is so important for us. Our manager, for example, has come here doing the job of the media, and you know everything is like a disaster for us.”App users: Click here to download the World Cup wall chart