The Egyptian Football Association has announced that their World Cup team was not allowed to fly to Seattle following their 3-1 victory over New Zealand. Mohamed Salah's side took a huge step toward reaching the round of 32 in Vancouver, Canada, with their first-ever World Cup win.
Security Rejection Forces Return to Spokane
The former Liverpool forward scored as Egypt overcame New Zealand. The team had requested to stay in Seattle after the match, but local security officials rejected the request. As a result, the seven-time Africa Cup of Nations winners were ordered to fly back to Spokane, where they are currently based for the tournament.
In response, the Egyptian FA released a statement detailing the chaos. Egypt's manager Hossam Hossan said: "The security authorities refused the team's request to stay in the city of Seattle as planned after the New Zealand match in the World Cup, and therefore the team's delegation will return to the city of Spokane."
Travel Fatigue Concerns
The team had wanted to travel directly to Seattle to preserve players from travel fatigue due to numerous trips in preparation for their Iran match on June 26. Following the security stance, the Egypt national team delegation will return to Spokane. The plan was designed to avoid unnecessary travel and give them time to prepare for their decisive Group G encounter against Iran on June 27 in Seattle.
Instead, they will resume training in Spokane before deciding on a different day to fly to Kansas. They will face another country that knows what it's like to have their tournament blighted by travel chaos.
Iran's Similar Travel Issues
Iran are based in Tijuana, Mexico, despite all their fixtures taking place in the USA. They originally planned to anchor in Arizona but switched to the Mexican city close to the US border after the war between Iran and the World Cup hosts began. They have had to travel to Los Angeles on the day of their matches against New Zealand and Belgium and fly back to their base immediately after the match finished.
Before the match against Belgium, US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mulling claimed that an individual with direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tried to board their plane to LA. Iran blasted this accusation as "lies" and suggested it was an attempt to disrupt their tournament. Iran's head coach Amir Ghalenoei has been particularly outspoken about their treatment, claiming they are "the most oppressed" team in the competition.
Group G Standings
Despite the issues, Iran are still performing respectably. They drew with New Zealand and Belgium in their opening matches and are currently second in the group. A win against Egypt would see them reach the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
