A player’s mom misses his historic match, red card chaos and more

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway, and with dozens of national teams competing in 16 cities across three countries for soccer’s ultimate prize, there should be no shortage of drama on and off the pitch. 

And there’s already been plenty — most of it involving red cards, referees and ticket prices.

Below, catch up on some of the biggest controversies of the quadrennial tournament, which runs through July 19.

Cape Verde goalie’s mother couldn’t attend his astonishing World Cup match due to visa issues

Cape Verde’s goalkeeper Josimar José Évora Dias, who goes by the nickname Vozinha, said his mother couldn’t attend the World Cup due to U.S. visa issues.

The West African archipelago’s national team played in its first-ever men’s World Cup game against Spain, one of the best teams in the world. The stunning match resulted in a 0-0 draw against the reigning European champs. Vozinha made seven saves and was named player of the match, but his mother wasn’t there to witness his success.

Vozinha is a goalkeeper for Chaves, a team in Portugal’s second-tier soccer league.

The 40-year-old broke down in tears on the soccer pitch after the game, hugging his teammates.

“I cried because I grew up with my grandparents, and unfortunately they are not here, they died a few years before and they give everything for me, for my life,” Vozinha told reporters Monday. “And also because my mom, she didn’t manage to be here because … of the money you have to pay for the visa, we didn’t manage on time, and I would like her to be here.”

Aussie ref denies making ‘white power’ hand gesture

An Australian referee had to deny flashing a white nationalist symbol during the television broadcast of Sunday’s match between Germany and Curaçao.

The official, Shaun Evans, was serving as one of the video assistant referees at the World Cup broadcast center in Dallas.

When cameras cut to Evans, he formed a circle with his thumb and index finger while extending the rest of his fingers. The hand gesture, which looks like an upside-down “OK,” has been co-opted by white supremacist groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which designated it a hate symbol in 2019.

The Athletic reported that Fare, a group that monitors racist and discriminatory chants, accused Evans of “intentionally transmitting a far-right neo-Nazi symbol” and called on FIFA to intervene. “Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” the group said.

After a subsequent investigation, FIFA said it found “no evidence of breaches of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.”

Evans said in a statement it was an “involuntary twitch.”

“I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind,” he said. “The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.”

Iran coach says team ordered to leave U.S. after match

Iran’s head coach said his team was ordered to board a plane to Mexico minutes after drawing 2–2 with New Zealand and that he believes his team is “the most oppressed in the World Cup.”

Iran’s World Cup cycle has been in upheaval since the United States and Israel began a war against Iran on Feb. 28.

The team’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, said they had expected to spend Monday night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after their opening game, only to be told after the match that everyone had to immediately board a plane for the 140-mile trip back to Tijuana.

“They didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter during a press conference after the match. “After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time to recover, but we were asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”

Prior to the tournament, the Iranian football federation ‌moved the team’s base camp from Arizona to Mexico amid uncertainty over U.S. visas during the Iran war, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico ​told Reuters.

The Department for Homeland Security told Yahoo that “the Iranian National Football Team agreed to these terms.”

“The team will be allowed to come in match day minus one, so the day before the match. They’ll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up, so the evening of the match. The President wants to make sure that we’re talking about what actually happens on the pitch. A lot of that is making sure that things are safe and secure, not just around the stadiums, but around base camps and training sites.”

Iran fans display flags to protest Tehran despite FIFA ban

The postgame attention of Monday’s match between Iran and New Zealand has also focused on the politically charged atmosphere at the Los Angeles stadium.

Among those in the crowd were Iranian fans cheering on their team, while others signaled opposition, as they view the World Cup team as a proxy for the Iranian government. They protested by holding up prerevolutionary flags featuring the lion-and-sun emblem that were used before 1979 and are viewed as a symbol of protest against the current Iranian government.

Others showed opposition by cheering on New Zealand and booing their own side. Despite FIFA’s efforts to restrict flags and apparel it deems political or offensive, fans still passed through stadium security without any issues. Outside the stadium, several hundred waved anti-Iranian flags and signs or destroyed the current Iranian flag.

Opening match sees most red cards in 20 years

The 2026 World Cup stirred controversy in the tournament’s opening match between South Africa and Mexico in Mexico City, as three players were sent off after receiving red cards.

By rule, those players — South Africa’s Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane and Mexico’s César Montes — will be suspended for their next matches.

It was the most red cards handed out in a World Cup match since 2006, when a record four players were ejected in what became known as the Battle of Nuremberg between Portugal and the Netherlands.

At the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022, only four red cards were issued in the entire tournament.

Somali referee denied entry into the United States

Omar Artan, a Somalian referee, was denied entry into the United States after being stopped upon arrival at Miami International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which determined that Artan was “inadmissible due to vetting concerns.” 

According to Yahoo Sports, a U.S. official said Artan was not allowed in the country due to “association with suspected members of terror organizations.”

Somalia is one of nearly 40 countries whose citizens are restricted from entering the United States as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

Artan told the New York Times that he had “the right visa” and was “very, very disappointed.” 

“I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup,” he said.

Artan has since returned to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, where he was greeted by thousands of supporters at a stadium. He has vowed to work the next World Cup, which is set to be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco in 2030.

FIFA blames empty seats on fans who left them to watch from the concourses

Despite record-high prices, World Cup tickets are in high demand. But not all matches have sold out.

During the tournament’s first week, viral images showed swaths of empty seats at a match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, Mexico, prompting FIFA to issue a statement saying that it was actually a near-sellout and that some fans were “standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout the match.”

“Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match,” FIFA said in its statement.

Swaths of empty seats were also reported in the matches between Switzerland and Qatar and between Japan and the Netherlands, during which the Athletic reported that volunteers had to step in to fill empty seats.

The organization said that it has sold more than 6 million tickets for the World Cup.

When they went on sale last fall, the cheapest tickets for group-stage games were priced at $140, up from $69 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

According to the Associated Press, tickets for the World Cup Final on July 19 in New Jersey were initially listed at up to $8,680. The prices were later raised to $10,990 and then to $32,970. 

By contrast, the most expensive ticket for the 2022 final was about $1,600.