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Iran's national soccer team will relocate its World Cup base camp to Mexico, according to an announcement from the country's soccer federation president, Mehdi Taj. The change comes as a result of the ongoing conflict with the U.S. and associated security concerns.
Iran had originally planned to train at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz., a venue selected in mid-February prior to the outbreak of regional hostilities; however, the team will now set up camp in Tijuana, a Mexican border city less than an hour's flight from Los Angeles, where Iran will play its opening Group G fixtures against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21.
Tijuana offers a comparable distance to Seattle as Tucson would have provided, with Seattle Stadium serving as the final group stage venue for Iran, where they will face Egypt on June 26.
"All team base camps for nations competing in the World Cup must receive FIFA approval," Taj said.
"Fortunately, following the requests we submitted and the discussions we conducted with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul, along with a webinar held on Friday in Tehran with FIFA secretary general [Mattias Grafström], our request to relocate the team's base from the United States to Mexico was approved," he added, though FIFA has yet to publicly confirm the decision.
"We will be stationed at the Tijuana camp, situated near the Pacific Ocean along the border between Mexico and the United States, but within Mexican territory. The contract will be finalized without issue, as it has already received FIFA's approval."
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Looking Back at Iran–U.S. World Cup Tensions
Questions surrounding Iran's participation in the World Cup have persisted since late February, when the U.S., as a co-host nation, launched a joint military offensive against the Middle Eastern country, resulting in the death of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparking an escalating conflict throughout the region.
In the immediate aftermath of the initial airstrikes, Iran cast doubt on their World Cup involvement. "What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope," Taj told Iranian sports outlet Varzesh3.
Iran was subsequently the only nation absent from FIFA's three-day logistics event in Atlanta the following week, an absence that prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to weigh in, remarking: "I really don't care [if Iran participates]. I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They're running on fumes."
Iran then formally withdrew from the 2026 World Cup in mid-March. "Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup," Iran's sports minister Ahmad Donyamali declared on state television.
The nation has since reversed that position and is now set to compete at the 2026 tournament. Nevertheless, Iran did attempt to have its World Cup matches relocated to Mexico following Trump's threatening remarks that while Iran "is welcome to the World Cup, [he] doesn't really believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety."
Iran's bid to move its matches to Mexico was a logistical request that FIFA President Gianni Infantino flatly rejected; however, the two parties appear to have reached a compromise by establishing a Mexican training base, allowing Iran to travel to and from the U.S. solely for match days.
The country is now working through visa arrangements, which Taj says will "no longer be a concern and will largely be resolved, since the Iranian team will enter through Mexico." Iran had sought guarantees that all players, staff, and officials — including those with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), such as Taj himself — would be granted entry, after several individuals were denied visas for the World Cup draw in December.