The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the USA, Mexico, and Canada, begins this Thursday.
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Iranian television reported that the national team departed Turkey, where they had been training, on Saturday and flew to Mexico.
They are expected to arrive in Tijuana, a city in northwestern Mexico on the border, early Sunday morning local time, where the team will be staying throughout the tournament.
The Iranian national team is scheduled to play all three group matches on US territory, making this the first World Cup where a host nation will welcome a team from a country with which it is at war.
The Iranian national team moved its base from its original location in Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana at the end of May.
The team spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using their time in Turkey to submit visa applications for travel to Mexico, Canada, and the USA.
Washington’s envoy to Turkey, Tom Barrack, announced late Friday evening on social media platform “X” that the players had received US visas on the eve of their departure for Mexico.
However, the Iranian embassy in Turkey issued an angry response, stating that support staff had been denied visas – affecting 15 administrative and management personnel, according to an Iranian diplomat and state television.
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The embassy urged FIFA, the world football governing body, to hold the USA accountable.
Tensions were further heightened by Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, who stated on Saturday that the team had been warned that, under visa conditions, the national team must arrive in and depart from US territory on the same day as their matches.
“We can arrive in the morning and must leave the same day,” Iranian envoy Abolfazl Pasandideh told reporters.
This appears to contradict what the team’s spokesperson, Amir Mahdi Alavi, had previously told state television.
“The visas issued to the national team are multiple-entry, and the team will arrive at the match venue one day before the first match, and two days before each subsequent match,” Alavi stated.
FIFA World Cup rules stipulate that the team coach must hold a press conference at the match venue on the eve of the game.
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