Iran World Cup Squad Heads to Mexico Amid US Visa Dispute

Iran’s World Cup squad is expected to arrive in Mexico early Sunday, amid a diplomatic row between Tehran and Washington after the United States refused to issue visas for some team support staff.

The dispute erupted days before the kickoff of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The Iranian team departed Turkey, where they had been training, on Saturday, bound for Mexico, Iranian television announced. They are expected to arrive early Sunday in Tijuana, a border city in northwest Mexico, where they will be based for the tournament’s duration.

Iran are due to play their three group games on US soil, making the first World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with.

The team switched their base to Tijuana from their original base in Tucson, Arizona in late May. They spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, Turkey, using the time to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada and the United States.

On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, according to Washington’s envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack, who posted on X late Friday.

However, Iran’s embassy to Turkey issued a furious response, saying support staff had been denied visas. An Iranian diplomat and state TV said 15 administrative and management staff are affected.

“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy wrote on X Saturday, calling on FIFA to hold the US accountable for violations of its rules.