INGLEWOOD, California — Iran's players are fed up with the hurdles they're having to go through at the 2026 World Cup.Iran captain Mehdi Taremi and Mohammad Mohebbi complained about the strict timeframe the team had when traveling to and from Los Angeles. The team arrived late in the afternoon the day before their World Cup opener on Monday, June 15 and flew back to Tijuana, Mexico, immediately after the 2-2 draw with New Zealand."It's not good for the football," Taremi said. "I think FIFA can help us more than this. Let's see what's going to happen in future."The players made their case to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who visited the team in their locker room after the game.Watch every World Cup game with Fubo"He wants to try to help us, but it's about other things, too. Everyone know it," Taremi said.Iran has been a pawn in the political turmoil between Iran and the United States. The United States began bombing Iran in February, and U.S. President Donald Trump at one point suggested the team should not come to the World Cup.Iran did come, but had to move their base camp to Tijuana, Mexico, right before the World Cup began. All of their group-stage games are in the United States — the first two are in Los Angeles, the last in Seattle — so the team flies in the day before and leaves right after."Yesterday we came, start the trip in the morning and we arrive afternoon. We directly go to training and we get tired," said Mohebbi, whose goal in the 64th minute salvaged the draw. "This kind of thing I think is not a little bit fair. We need to get fair competition."Other teams are typically arriving two days before their matches. Many do fly back to their base camps after their games, but Iran said it wanted to stay overnight in Los Angeles, do recovery the next morning and then return to Mexico.Iran fans hoping for 'unity' as team begins World Cup run in United StatesIran fans spoke about peace and unity ahead of their first World Cup game against New Zealand in Los Angeles.Sports Pulses"I don't know who (is responsible) because it's between the federation and FIFA ... (but) we don't have our president federation, we don't have vice president," Taremi said, referring to the U.S. government's refusal to grant visas to several members of Iran's delegation, including federation president Mehdi Taj."Everything is like disaster actually for us. It's not the right thing."Taremi and Mohebbi patiently answered questions about Iran's situation for more than 10 minutes. Although they said they appreciated the support they have gotten, they're frustrated that they are being asked to do things other players at this World Cup are not."We are here to play football, my friend," Taremi said. "All the questions ... it's all about the problems. Which is we are tired to talk about that. And if they help us, we are much appreciate about that. If no one help us, doesn't matter. We just stay back to back behind each other and we try our best to win our next game."