Just hours before kick-off, Ivory Coast's loudest home-based supporters have been told they won't be getting into America.

So this is messy. The president of Ivory Coast's official supporters' group has confirmed to AFP that home-based fans have had their US visas denied ahead of the tournament.

Julien Kouadio Adonis, who heads the National Committee of Elephants Supporters (CNSE) under the Ministry of Sport, says his committee normally organises trips for the small core of travelling fans who follow the Elephants abroad. This time, it's not happening.

And it's not just Ivory Coast feeling it. The run-up to this World Cup, which kicks off today across the US, Canada and Mexico, has already been dogged by America's visa policy. Somali referee Omar Artan was turned away on Sunday, and some Iranian team support staff have also been refused entry.

For the Ivorians, the timing stings. They play two of their three group games in Philadelphia, against Ecuador on 15 June and Curaçao on 25 June, with a trip to Toronto to face Germany in between. Back in March, Kouadio told AFP he was hoping around 500 fans would make it across the Atlantic.

Instead, he says only a handful of CNSE officials have been authorised to travel. Their job now won't be leading chants from Abidjan arrivals, but looking after the Ivorian supporters already based in the United States.

The CNSE still reckons there will be more than 1,000 Ivorians in the stands, but they will be from the diaspora, not the home crowd who saved for months to be there.

A World Cup co-hosted across three countries was supposed to make it easier to follow your team. For Ivory Coast's home fans, it's just meant a closed door.

Source: cbinewstv

#WorldCup2026 #IvoryCoast #LesElephants #USVisaBan #Philadelphia2026 #CBINewsTV #FootballNews #cbinewstv