Nurse Raphaela Coiado, 24, didn’t cry when she heard that her visa to the United States had been denied. Not even when her husband and four other relatives who went with them to the consulate in Rio de Janeiro left with the same little white piece of paper in their hands.
She cried at her doorstep when the Brazilian team’s yellow t-shirts arrived in a Coca-Cola themed suitcase. The gift was part of a kit that she and her husband received in a promotion to travel to the World Cup.
That made her emotional.
“It messed with me because I looked and said, ‘Wow, it’s really happening. And we’re not going,” she said. “I cried a lot.”
A conquered journey
At the beginning of the year, Coca-Cola launched a promotion for its partners: whoever reached the stipulated goals and came first in the ranking would win a trip to the World Cup under very special conditions.
As Raphaela’s husband, Vitor, manages the commercial sector of the family supermarket, they entered the competition. And they were in first place almost the entire time.
“Towards the end, there came a moment when we almost lost the trip. But in the last week we managed to recover”, says Raphaela.
The bonus included two round-trip air tickets, five days of accommodation and a ticket to the Coca-Cola box with free food and drink for the game between Brazil and Haiti, on June 19 in Philadelphia.
“I was disappointed by the loss of the experience. I was going to a World Cup that we know is a legendary edition, that many incredible players are retiring and will no longer play. It was my opportunity to see them.”
The cost of trying – and not going
The Coca-Cola prize was good for two people, but none of the six family members who could use it had seen it. Raphaela, who lives in Hortolândia, in the interior of São Paulo, didn’t even have a passport.
She rushed to update her name on her CPF and ID — newly married, she hadn’t yet made the change to her documents — managed to get her passport in a short time and began the process of applying for an American visa with her husband, two sisters-in-law and their companions.
The family hired a visa consultant to carry out the procedures, such as filling out the mandatory form and the list of documents to be taken to the interview.
But preparing for the interview was up to each person. Raphaela says she spent weeks researching the internet, watching videos and simulating responses with ChatGPT.
“I don’t know how many simulations I did using ChatGPT. And, apparently, it didn’t help much.”
As vacancies at the São Paulo consulate were only available for September — and the trip was in June —, everyone went to Rio de Janeiro for a two-day trip.
At the consulate, the couple was asked about their degree of kinship, destination and reason for the trip, what their profession is and what their family income is.
“Everyone failed. Not one person was saved to pass.”
The American consulate does not provide the reason for the refusal. Raphaela has suspicions: interruptions from her husband during the interview, the fact that he works as an Individual Microentrepreneur (MEI) and the fact that none of them have ever traveled abroad before — but no certainty.
In addition to the lost trip, the family incurred a loss of approximately R$5,000 in the process: visa fees (around R$900 per person), the cost of consultancy, air tickets to Rio de Janeiro, accommodation and food during the stay.
The couple considered extending their stay in Rio and trying again before the World Cup. They decided it wasn’t worth the financial and emotional risk. The family chose to sell the trip for R$25,000. The deal was closed in less than a day.
“I’m still in a lot of pain,” she says. “I would return this money if they said: Rafaela, we will give you your visa now”, he says. “I don’t think any money in the world can buy the experience we would have.”
“I didn’t even want to watch the World Cup game this year. I’m really upset.”
Multiple countries affected
Raphaela’s story is no exception — it is part of a pattern that affects fans around the world during this World Cup.
A BBC World Service analysis of US State Department data showed that fans from more than a quarter of the countries qualifying for the tournament face travel bans, tighter restrictions or high visa rejection rates to enter the United States.
Unlike the last four World Cups — held in South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar —, which implemented special visa regimes for fans, the United States did not create any specific process for the tournament.
FIFA developed the so-called Fifa Pass, a system that directs ticket holders to priority appointments for consular interviews, but the measure speeds up the process without increasing the chances of approval.
“The visa system is the invisible gatekeeper of the World Cup,” Céline Atallah, an immigration lawyer based near Boston, told the BBC World Service.
“FIFA can sell a ticket, but the US government decides who gets the visa — and Customs and Border Protection decides who actually gets in.”
The asymmetry is structural. Forty-two countries — generally the richest ones — are visa-free for the United States and can travel with an online electronic authorization that costs US$40 (about R$204).
No African country is on this list. For others, the tourist visa recommended by the embassy for fans costs US$185 — around R$945 — and requires a face-to-face interview.
Eleven of the 48 countries qualified for the tournament have an American visa rejection rate above 40%: Senegal, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Jordan, Algeria, Haiti, Egypt, Cape Verde, Uzbekistan and Ecuador. In Senegal, the rate exceeds 70%.
Four countries are on the Donald Trump administration’s list of travel restrictions —Haiti, Iran, Senegal and Ivory Coast—, which prevents their citizens from obtaining the type of visa recommended for fans. For Senegalese and Ivorians, there was an additional deadline: they needed to secure a visa before December, when the restrictions came into force.
Senegalese fan Aliou Ngom was at the last two World Cups — in Qatar and Russia. For 2026, he didn’t even try for a visa. The president of the Ivory Coast fans’ association, Julien Kouadio Adonis, went further when describing the restrictions: for him, it is “a form of segregation that dares not speak its name.” “No European country faced this type of restriction. Why Africa?” he asked.
In Iraq, fan Abdulla Adnan bought tickets for his team’s games against Norway and France shortly after qualifying — the second time in the country’s history. But the United States suspended routine consular services in Iraq over security concerns following the escalation of the regional conflict.
Without the possibility of an in-person interview, Adnan traveled to Jordan to apply for a visa there — where he was informed that the Jordanian American embassy could not issue visas to non-Jordanian citizens. He spent around US$1,800 (R$9,204) on the process and gave up.
The president of Jordan’s fans association, Abu Kass, took more than 42 documents to his consular interview in Amman. The visa was denied, without explanation. According to him, he does not know any Jordanian fan who has received approval. “This Cup isn’t ours. It’s for them.”
Those who have a guaranteed visa may lose it
Even fans from countries historically well regarded by American authorities were surprised on the eve of the tournament.
In Scotland, dozens of fans who had received the American electronic travel authorization (This, in its acronyms in English) — the simplified mechanism available to citizens of visa-exempt countries, valid for two years — saw the status of the authorization change from “approved” to “unauthorized travel” without prior notice, just days before the team’s debut.
Scott Braid, 43, from Kirkcaldy, Scotland, had organized a trip for the whole family after getting Esta approved. “Since doing this, absolutely nothing has changed in my circumstances,” he told BBC Scotland.
Brothers Andrew and Nelson Speirs, also from Kirkcaldy, had applied in December and received approval the following day. In June, the status was revoked. The total cost of the planned trip was £10,000 (R$68,000).
The US government’s response was that the system continues to automatically check all authorizations against security databases, and that an approved ESTA does not guarantee entry into the country.
In Argentina, a company decided to give free televisions to fans who proved they had been denied a visa — so they could at least watch the World Cup from home.
The other hosts and the visa
The problem is not limited to the United States, which will host 78 of the 104 matches, including the final.
Canada, co-host of the tournament, had an overall visa rejection rate of 54% in 2025. The country requires biometric data for visa applications — but there are two countries qualified for the World Cup, Iran and Cape Verde, where Canada does not have facilities for applicants to be scanned.
Mexico, the third host, does not disclose its rejection rates. There are eight countries qualified for the tournament —among them Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Iraq— where Mexico does not have a diplomatic presence, making it impossible for its citizens to even apply for a Mexican visa locally.
The US State Department told the BBC it was “prepared to welcome visitors from around the globe to the biggest and best FIFA World Cup in history”, and that most foreign fans would not need the special process because they are citizens of visa-exempt countries or already have a permit.
Regarding denials, the government said it analyzes each request “on a case-by-case basis, after rigorous review and thorough screening to determine whether the individual is eligible under U.S. law,” and that “in all cases, we will take the time necessary to ensure that the applicant does not pose a risk to the security of the United States.”
BBC News Brasil sent questions to the American consulate in Brazil about visa rejection rates for Brazilians, average waiting times for interviews and any special measures adopted for the World Cup. Until the publication of this report, there was no response.
Raphaela plans to try for an American visa again — but not before traveling to Europe, to build an international travel history. She believes the lack of previous travel may have counted against her.
In any case, it won’t be for this World Cup.
“This was a unique opportunity. We know this won’t happen again. Not anytime soon. I’ve lost the desire to watch the games.”
