The president of the governing body of Iranian football said on Saturday the country’s World Cup training base was moved from the USA to Mexico after approval by FIFA.
Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian Football Association, announced the decision on Saturday in a statement issued by the association’s media officer. FIFA has not confirmed the move.
Iran was originally scheduled to train in Tucson, Arizona, but a move was possible due to uncertainty the war in the Middle East and safety concerns. Officials at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson had no comment.
The association says the team will now be based in Tijuana, Mexico, south of San Diego. This year World Cup runs from June 11th to July 19th and will be The event is co-organized by the USACanada and Mexico.
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“All team bases of countries participating in the World Cup must be approved by FIFA,” Taj said in his statement. “Fortunately, our request to move the team’s base from the United States to Mexico was approved following the requests we submitted and the meetings we held with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul, as well as the webinar meeting we had yesterday in Tehran with the distinguished FIFA Secretary General.”
Iran will play Group G games in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium six days later, then face Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The association said Tijuana’s relatively close proximity to Inglewood, a suburb of Los Angeles, will benefit the team and that the new location “includes all training facilities, a gym, a private restaurant and everything else the team needs.”
Team Melli is competing in the World Cup for the fourth time in a row and for the seventh time overall. It never got past the first round.
The Iranian federation said the base camp relocation will resolve potential visa issues as the team will enter the United States via Mexico. The president said the team “may even be able to travel to and from Mexico on Iran Air flights.”
Teams use base camps for training before and after games.
President Trump’s messages regarding Iran’s participation in the World Cup were unclear. In one Meeting at the White House Mid-March, Mr. Trump said FIFA officials Officials told CBS News at the time that Iran was welcome to take part in the tournament. But two days later, Mr. Trump arrived wrote On Truth Social, he explained that while the Iranian team was “welcome” to participate, he “did not think it was appropriate for them to be there to ensure their own lives and safety.”
Following these remarks, Taj said Iran was negotiating with FIFA about this play its games in Mexico.
However, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has repeatedly stated that Iran will take part. Speaking at the FIFA Congress on April 30 in Vancouver, Canada – an annual meeting attended by FIFA representatives from more than 200 nations – Infantino opened his speech by “immediately confirming to those who have anything else to say or write that Iran will of course take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. And of course Iran will play in the United States of America.”
