Former Spain World Cup winner Joan Capdevila pleads with Trump after U.S. entry denied over 2016 Iran match

Former Spain defender Joan Capdevila, a World Cup winner with La Roja in 2010, has launched a desperate public appeal to US President Donald Trump after being denied entry to the United States to attend Sunday’s World Cup final.

The 48-year-old former left-back, who started the 2010 final against the Netherlands, had planned to travel to New York with his children to reunite with his former teammates and support Spain in their second World Cup final appearance against defending champions Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. But his application for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) — the document required for visa-free entry to the US — was rejected.

“I NEED HELP @realDonaldTrump!” Capdevila posted on X on Friday night. “They just told me that I can’t travel to the final with my kids because my ESTA has been denied. Can anyone help me with this? You have no idea how excited I was to be there with all my 2010 team-mates and this team to cheer them on. I can’t believe they’re not letting me into the USA… and that I’ll miss a moment like this with my kids who love soccer so much.”

Capdevila also tagged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Spanish government’s ministry of sport in his posts.

The reason: a decade-old exhibition match in Iran

Speaking to Spanish radio station COPE, Capdevila revealed the bureaucratic hurdle behind the denial. “I was there 10 years ago, in 2016, playing a LaLiga match, a normal match in Iran, and it seems that if you have been in Iran, you cannot enter the United States,” he lamented.

The match in question was a charity exhibition in Tehran on August 25, 2016, when a team of La Liga legends faced an Iranian all-star side. Under US State Department rules, travelers from visa-waiver countries are not eligible for ESTA if they have visited Iran after March 1, 2011 — and must obtain a regular visa instead.

“I pay my taxes, I’m a normal citizen”

Capdevila expressed bewilderment at the rigidity of the regulation. “I am a normal citizen of the world, I pay my taxes, I pay everything, and it turns out I can’t go with my family to watch a sporting event that means so much to me — I don’t understand it,” he told COPE.

He confirmed that the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) had attempted to mediate through FIFA, but without success. When asked about the possibility of President Trump intervening, Capdevila replied with irony: “The only person who can do it is Trump, and you know how he is — so it’s totally impossible.”

Capdevila, who earned 60 caps for Spain between 2002 and 2011 and was also part of the Euro 2008-winning squad, is not the first high-profile figure blocked from entering the US for the World Cup. Last month, Somali referee Omar Artan — the 2025 CAF Men’s Referee of the Year — was denied entry after arriving at Miami International Airport.

Kick-off for Sunday’s final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium is scheduled for 20:00 BST. Whether Capdevila will be in the stands to cheer on his country remains uncertain.