Iran’s Football Federation said Saturday that the team’s World Cup training base has been moved from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, after Fifa approved the change. Mehdi Taj announced the decision in a statement released by the federation’s media relations official, ending weeks of uncertainty over where the team would prepare for next year’s tournament.
The federation said the team will now be based in Tijuana, just south of San Diego, and that the move should help resolve possible visa problems because Iran will enter the United States through Mexico. Taj said the team may even be able to travel to and from Mexico using Iran Air flights, a detail that underscores how closely the schedule is being built around travel and access.
Iran had been scheduled to train in Tucson for the 2026 World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 19 July and is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The change comes after months of uncertainty tied to the war in the Middle East and security concerns, with the federation seeking a base camp that would fit both the team’s preparation needs and the practical problem of crossing into the United States.
Taj said the federation had pushed the issue through talks with Fifa and World Cup officials in Istanbul, as well as a webinar meeting held yesterday in Tehran with the Fifa secretary general. He said all team base camps for the countries participating in the World Cup must be approved by Fifa, and that Iran’s request to move from the United States to Mexico was finally accepted.
The decision also follows a public contradiction that has shadowed Iran’s path to the tournament. At last month’s Fifa congress in Vancouver, Gianni Infantino said Iran would play its World Cup games in the United States as scheduled. He said Iran would participate in the Fifa World Cup 2026 and play in the United States of America, adding that the event was meant to “unite” and “bring people together.”
Iran is due to play its Group G matches in Los Angeles against New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June, before facing Egypt in Seattle on 26 June. The team is appearing in its fourth straight World Cup and seventh overall, but it has never advanced beyond the first round. That history gives added weight to every logistical decision around the squad’s buildup, because there is little margin for disruption once the tournament starts.
The federation’s move does not alter the fixtures themselves, but it does settle one of the more awkward questions around Iran’s participation. After earlier reports in March that Fifa was unwilling to switch Iran’s World Cup matches to Mexico, Saturday’s approval points to a more practical compromise: keep the games in the United States, but give the team a base camp on the Mexican side of the border.
For now, the paperwork appears to have caught up with the politics. Iran has a place to train, a route into the United States and a schedule that begins in Los Angeles. What remains is whether the team can turn that stability into something it has never managed at a World Cup: a way out of the first round.
