US visa delays could stop some fans from travelling to 2026 World Cup

Ahead of the 1994 men's football World Cup in the US, cynics sneered that the tournament could be a poorly-attended wash-out due to scant local interest in 'soccer' and the vast distances between venues.

But record crowds, averaging almost 69,000 people per match, enjoyed a month of rip-roaring football featuring iconic moments - such as holders Germany being knocked out by a spectacular diving header by Bulgaria’s Yordan Letchhov - before culminating in a Romario-inspired Brazil being crowned world champions for the first time since 1970.

However cynics could have better cause to worry about the upcoming 2026 men's World Cup, which the US is hosting with Canada and Mexico.

The US travel industry is warning of a visa approval backlog that already means tens of thousands of supporters could be prevented from attending the competition.

"If you don’t have your visa today, you’re not getting in," said Geoff Freeman, chief executive of the US Travel Association.

The 2026 tournament will for the first time feature 48 countries, around one in four of all FIFA member nations, a move that some have criticized as making it too easy to qualify and potentially lowering the standard of the tournament.

Colombia, second in the South America qualification section after a recent 1-0 win over World Cup holders Argentina, look certain to be among the dark-horse contenders.

But speaking at the American Express Centurion Club in New York, Freeman said Colombians face a 696-day average wait for a US tourist visa, meaning that the tens of thousands of fans likely to want to head north are not going to have their entry approved in time for the tournament, scheduled to start in Mexico City on June 11, 2026 and finish in New York, where the final will be played on July 19.

Freeman’s warning followed the recent publication of a bipartisan letter to US President Joe Biden, in which senators from both major parties warned that the World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games, which are to be held in Los Angeles, could be undermined by red tape.

"Currently, wait times for visitor visa interviews, particularly for first-time applicants, remain unacceptably high in many countries," according to the signatories, who said the tournament would bring over 5 million visitors to the US.

The warnings came ahead of the November 5 US presidential election, in which migration, particularly involving people entering the US without a visa, is likely to be a key issue.

"To ensure the success of these events, preparations must be made to facilitate smooth and secure travel to the United States for our international guests," the senators said.