FIFA approves Iran base camp switch from US to Mexico: Official

Iran’s national football team will relocate its 2026 World Cup training base from the United States to Mexico after football’s world governing body, FIFA, approved the request, says the head of the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI).

The decision, announced on Saturday by Mehdi Taj, will see Team Melli ditch its previously planned base camp in Tucson, Arizona, in favor of the Mexican border city of Tijuana.

The tactical shift drastically minimizes the number of days the Iranian delegation will need to spend on American soil, offering a practical workaround to deliberate political roadblocks by US authorities about visas for members of the team.

The tournament will kick off on June 11, yet according to reports, US visas had still not been granted to the players and staff.

The team is now camping in Antalya, Turkey, with members visiting the US embassy in Ankara for visa processing.

The 2026 World Cup has been heavily overshadowed by geopolitics, following the unprovoked US-Israel aggression against Iran earlier this year. Though a fragile ceasefire has been in place since April, recent hardline rhetoric from US President Donald Trump—who publicly questioned the safety guarantees of the Iranian delegation—left Team Melli’s participation hanging by a thread.

FFIRI President Mehdi Taj revealed that the relocation was the result of intense, high-level negotiations to protect the team from being barred from entry entirely.

"During the meetings we held with FIFA directors and World Cup organizers, as well as an online session we concluded in Tehran, we requested that the national team's camp be transferred to Mexico due to the challenges of securing US visas," Taj stated in a video message on Saturday.

"This request has been approved, and the members of the national team will head to Tijuana," he added.

By setting up camp in Tijuana, which sits right on the Pacific coast along the US-Mexico border, Iran will be able to fly directly into Mexico via national carrier Iran Air, completely bypassing US border controls for their training duration.

Despite the relocation, the team's grueling Group G travel schedule remains highly manageable. Iran will fly across the border on match days, utilizing short flights to reach their designated venues.

Iran will face New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. The team will then take on Belgium in the same city on June 21 before holding the final group stage match against Egypt five days later in Seattle.

Addressing concerns regarding the quality of the new environment, Taj emphasized that the Mexican site offers world-class infrastructure that rivals, if not exceeds, their initial Arizona plans.

"This camp has all the necessary amenities. There are training pitches, a bodybuilding gym, a dedicated restaurant, and it features a very beautiful, modern stadium," Taj explained.

The federation chief also underscored the logistical logic behind the sudden geographical pivot.

"Our distance from this camp to our two matches in Los Angeles is just a 55-minute flight, which is actually shorter than the distance from our previous camp in Tucson, Arizona," Taj noted. "For the third match in Seattle, the squad will have to travel for three hours from Tijuana, which is the exact same travel time they would have faced from Tucson."

Iran had already asked FIFA to change the venues of the team's matches from the US to Mexico, but the world body rejected the request.

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