Norway and Ivory Coast battled Tuesday for a spot in the World Cup Round of 16, with Norway winning 2-1 to advance while footballers from Ivory Coast packed their bags to head home.
But driving past Dallas Stadium in Arlington, it would be easy to think the match was between Norway and Mexico.
Despite Ivory Coast making it further than the team ever had before, its fans were very few and far between, and federal restrictions on visas almost certainly played a major role.
The country’s official fan group for the national soccer team, the National Committee for the Support of the Elephants, said it didn’t even bother trying to get permission to go to the U.S. for Ivory Coast matches, according to BBC.
“It’s a form of segregation that doesn’t dare speak its name, but the proof is there,” the association's president, Julien Kouadio, told BBC. “No European country has faced this kind of restriction. Why Africa?”
A similar scene is expected when Egypt and Australia compete in Friday’s Round of 32 match at Dallas Stadium.
Seven countries with representation in the FIFA World Cup were unable to bring along support from home due to those policies.
Haiti and Iran faced full entry bans while Ivory Coast and Senegal had partial restrictions, according to the Department of State. Fans from Algeria and Cape Verde also face restrictions, with the U.S. requiring a $15,000 bond for citizens of those nations to enter the country.
Cape Verde is the only of those nations that has not yet been eliminated from the tournament.
The effects have impacted representation for those countries.
State Department officials told KERA News ahead of the World Cup that it expected unprecedented turnout of international fans but could not provide estimates or projections on the impacts those Trump administration policies would have.
The U.S. Department of State does not know how visa bans and entry bonds could impact turnout for the World Cup, a spokesperson told KERA News.
When asked if the State Department has any data on the possible impacts, Deputy Spokesperson Mignon Houston told KERA News in April that the government does not have any estimates about how the ban and entry bonds would impact the World Cup.
Despite that, Houston said there was still a lot of excitement for the World Cup.
Another spokesperson for the State Department reaffirmed that it does not have any estimates, but said turnout was still expected to be high. Many games have been sold out, or nearly sold out, with fans donning other teams' jerseys to attend matches where visa restrictions kept fans away.
While Egypt isn’t on the list, its citizens have seen high rejection rates for visa applications to visit for the tournament, according to Business Insider Africa, which reported June 28 that fans from Egypt faced a 59.1% rejection rate for visa applications.
Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org. You can follow James on X @ByJamesHartley.
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