As the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico draws near, the Iran men’s national football team has secured conditional approval to shift their pre-tournament training base from the United States to Mexico, according to the top official of the country’s football governing body.
Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), announced Friday that FIFA has signed off on the federation’s request to move the team’s camp from Tucson, Arizona, to the northern Mexican border city of Tijuana, following a series of in-person and virtual negotiations with global football’s governing body. The announcement came as Iran continues its pre-tournament preparation at a dedicated training camp in Antalya, southern Turkey, where the squad has been fine-tuning tactics ahead of their Group stage matches.
Taj detailed the approval process in comments from the Istanbul negotiations, noting that after formal requests, face-to-face talks with FIFA and 2026 World Cup organizing committee officials in the Turkish city, and a subsequent webinar with FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom from Tehran, the relocation request was formally accepted. “We will be based in the Tijuana camp, which is near the Pacific Ocean and sits right on the border between Mexico and the United States,” Taj said, adding that the new location offers a major logistical advantage for the team’s scheduled matches. Iran is set to play all three of their Group stage games in North American cities: against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, both in Los Angeles, and a final group match against Egypt on June 26 in Seattle. Travel from Tijuana to Los Angeles will only take a 55-minute flight, a fraction of the travel time required from the original base in Tucson, Taj explained.
While Taj confirmed FIFA’s approval, FIFA has not yet made an official public statement confirming the change. BBC Sport has reached out to FIFA for additional comment on the relocation and the ongoing visa issues facing the Iranian delegation.
The shift away from a U.S.-based training camp comes amid widespread uncertainty around Iran’s participation in the tournament, driven by escalating regional tensions in the Middle East and persistent visa complications for Iranian players and federation officials. Earlier this month, Taj revealed that many Iranian squad members were still waiting for U.S. entry visas ahead of the tournament, which kicks off on June 11. The FFIRI has submitted 10 formal conditions to FIFA to secure Iran’s full participation, a key demand being that players, coaches and delegation members who previously completed military service with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be guaranteed entry to host countries.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously stated that Iranian players would be welcome to enter the U.S. for the tournament, but individuals with confirmed links to the IRGC would be subject to existing entry restrictions. The visa issue has already disrupted FFIRI operations earlier this year: in April, Taj was among a group of FFIRI officials denied entry to Canada ahead of the FIFA annual congress in Vancouver, after Canadian authorities canceled his visa over documented links to the IRGC, Canada’s immigration minister confirmed to parliament.
As of this week, a subset of the Iranian squad has traveled to the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, to submit visa applications for the tournament, though full approval for all members of the delegation remains pending.