Iraq World Cup striker held for hours at Chicago airport, photographer denied entry

Iraq’s arrival in Chicago turned into a border-screening dispute instead of a routine World Cup buildup, with striker Aymen Hussein held and questioned for nearly seven hours at O’Hare and the team’s photographer denied entry to the United States. The episode raised immediate questions about how U.S. officials handled a high-profile sporting delegation days before the tournament opened across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Hussein arrived with Iraq’s national team from Dubai early on June 6 and was eventually allowed into the country, but only after what Iraqi officials described as hours of questioning and a phone inspection. The photographer, Talal Salah, was held for more than 10 hours, also had his phone checked, and was ultimately turned away. A Chicago Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed that the photographer traveling with the Iraqi team was denied entry at O’Hare. The Iraqi Embassy in Washington later said two members of Iraq’s 62-person World Cup delegation underwent additional immigration procedures in Chicago, with entry completed for one person and denied for the other under U.S. immigration regulations.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why the screening stretched so long or why Salah was refused entry. Iraq’s embassy said it had been working with the U.S. State Department, Chicago authorities and other officials in the days before arrival to help facilitate the team’s entry, underscoring the diplomatic sensitivity surrounding a delegation traveling under the spotlight of a major international tournament.

The scrutiny fell on one of Iraq’s most important players. Hussein, 30, is central to the attack alongside Ipswich Town forward Ali Al-Hamadi and younger options Ali Jassim and Youssef Amyn. Iraq qualified for the 2026 World Cup by beating Bolivia 2-1 on March 31, with Hussein scoring the winning goal, and FIFA said it was the country’s first World Cup appearance in 40 years, since 1986.

The team’s opening matches are set for June 16 against Norway in Foxborough, June 22 against France in Philadelphia and June 26 against Senegal in Toronto. Fans were already gathered at the airport before dawn to greet the squad with flags and cameras, but the questions left behind by the screening were about process, transparency and whether Iraq’s delegation was treated differently from other foreign visitors entering the United States for the tournament.