Koulibaly condemns US visa bans that kept Senegalese fans from the World Cup

Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly has publicly condemned the US visa restrictions that barred thousands of Senegalese fans from attending the 2025 World Cup, speaking out after his side’s 3-1 opening defeat to France at MetLife Stadium in New York on Tuesday.

In December, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing partial travel bans on Senegal, Ivory Coast, Iran and Haiti — four of the nations competing at the tournament. The order suspended entry for immigrants and non-immigrants travelling under business and tourism categories, effectively locking out travelling supporters while exempting athletes, support staff and players’ immediate family members.

“The federation did the work for us to have parents or our close family with us, but it’s true that some supporters couldn’t fly to America,” Koulibaly told The Athletic. “I think that every team can have their people, so I don’t understand why people from Africa cannot have their people. I don’t want to speak about politics or something like this. I just want to speak about football, enjoy football, and I think football is for everybody. I just want to tell this and I hope that the situation will be OK, but for me the most important is that we have to play for our people.”

The former Chelsea defender, now playing in Saudi Arabia, was keen to acknowledge the fans who did make it to MetLife Stadium. Central Harlem in New York City has a significant Senegalese community, and many were able to make the short trip across the Hudson River for the match against France.

Koulibaly is not alone in raising the issue. Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, who delivered a standout performance as his country held Spain to a draw, revealed that his mother was unable to attend due to visa complications.

“I cried after the game because I grew up with my grandparents when I was a kid, and they could not be there,” Vozinha said. “They passed away a few years ago. My mum could not be here either for a visa issue, and the money we had to pay for it. We did not manage to do this in time.”

The visa situation has cast a shadow over the early stages of the tournament, with affected nations left to compete in front of heavily depleted support despite the World Cup being staged on US soil.