Iran played Mali in a closed-door friendly in Turkey on Tuesday, the last tune-up before heading to its new World Cup base in Mexico. For Mehdi Taremi, the clinical attacker expected to lead the line, it was another step in a campaign that has been shaped as much by travel plans as by football.

The match came as Iran wrapped up its final 26-man roster in Antalya and prepared to leave for Tijuana, the Mexican city that will serve as its official base camp for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. FIFA approved the move from Tucson, Arizona, after security concerns, visa complications and the fraught diplomatic climate between Tehran and Washington made the original plan harder to keep in place.

That relocation has given Iran a different sort of distraction heading into a group that includes New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt. Mehdi Taremi is expected to spearhead the attack, with Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Mehdi Ghayedi included in the squad, Alireza Beiranvand anchoring the goal and Shoja Khalilzadeh alongside Hossein Kanaanizadegan at the back. The omission of Sardar Azmoun from the final roster added another sharp edge to a squad that is still being assembled around its core names.

Iran’s preparations have taken place against a wider backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and the sort of logistical strain that can unsettle even a well-drilled team. Moving the base camp from Tucson to Tijuana was meant to make the build-up more workable and give the squad a little more peace of mind, but it also underlined how far this World Cup run is already being shaped outside the pitch.

Mali arrived with its own issues. The federation is still searching for a permanent head coach after recent recruitment setbacks, and the summer camp has been used to bring players together while that search continues. The closed-door setting in Turkey kept the focus tightly on the two teams’ immediate needs, even if the result of the friendly was not made public.

For Iran, the real countdown now starts after the flight to Mexico. The friendly in Turkey was never meant to stand on its own; it was the last checkpoint before a World Cup campaign that begins with a new address, an unfinished roster question and a group stage that will test whether the team’s planning has been enough.