IRAN MOVES WORLD CUP BASE TO MEXICO AND WANTS GUARANTEES ON VISAS AND SECURITY

National team will fly to the US on day of games after Washington refuses to host squad

Iran's players training in Antalya, Turkey, as they prepare for the World Cup. AFP

Iran's national team will base themselves in Mexico and travel ​to ​the US on ​the days of its three World Cup ⁠matches after Washington declined to host the squad, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said ​on Monday.

Sheinbaum said Fifa approached her government after US authorities said they did not ⁠want Iran staying in the country throughout the June 11-July 19 competition, even though Iran are scheduled to play three Group G matches there.

 "We have no reason to deny ⁠them the possibility of staying in Mexico," Sheinbaum told her daily press conference.

Iran are currently preparing for the tournament in Antalya, southern Turkey.

They ​are set to face New ‌Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, Belgium in Los Angeles on June ​21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. US President Donald Trump said in March that Iran were welcome to participate in the World Cup but that he did not believe it was appropriate for them to be in the United States "for their own life and safety".

Mehdi Taj, head of Iran's football federation, said on Saturday the team's base would be moved from Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana during the tournament. Fifa confirmed the move on Monday. Taj added that the swap would help avoid visa-related complications and allow direct Iran Air flights to ​Mexico.

Iran's World Cup plans have been under scrutiny ‌since late February, when the United ⁠States joined Israel in attacks on Iran, ​triggering a war that raised doubts over whether Tehran would send ​its team ‌to play in one of the host countries.

Members of the Iranian national football team camp arrive at the US Embassy in Ankara for their visa application on May 21. AFP

In March, Taj said Iran were in ⁠talks with Fifa about moving its group matches to Mexico on safety ⁠grounds, and Sheinbaum said Mexico would be open to hosting them. Fifa refused the request.

The uncertainty fueled wider speculation about Iran's place at the tournament. Iran qualified for a fourth consecutive World Cup by topping their group in the third round of Asian qualifying last year.

Visas and enhanced security

According to various reports at the start of May, Iran had asked Fifa for several guarantees. The demands came after Taj was denied entry to Canada for last month's Fifa Congress.

Chief among them was that their players, coaches and other officials will receive visas to attend the tournament.

That included visas for those on the team who have completed military service with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is listed as a terrorist organisation in Canada and the US.

“All players and technical staff, especially those who served their military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, should be granted visas without problems,” Taj, a former commander of Iran's IRGC, told Iranian media.

According to a report from the BBC, the Iranian Football Federation also wants assurances that its team will receive enhanced security during the tournament and that respect for the Iranian flag and national anthem will be maintained.

Iranian officials have also reportedly asked for journalists to avoid questions beyond "technical football matters".

- The National

'OUR HOST IS FIFA NOT TRUMP': IRAN FA CHIEF WARNS NO US WORLD CUP TRIP WITHOUT GUARANTEE OVER IRGC RESPECT

An FFIRI delegation, including Taj, turned back from the Canadian border last week because of what they said was disrespectful treatment at the hands of immigration officials as they tried to attend the Fifa Congress in Vancouver

The New York/New Jersey's FIFA World Cup 2026 logo is revealed during the kickoff event in Times Square in New York City, US
Reuters file photo

Iranian FA (FFIRI) chief Mehdi Taj says Fifa must guarantee that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not insulted by the United States if the national team is to travel to the country to play at the World Cup in June.

An FFIRI delegation, including Taj, turned back from the Canadian border last week because of what they said was disrespectful treatment at the hands of immigration officials as they tried to attend the Fifa Congress in Vancouver.

Taj said the decision to return home had been their own choice but Canada's immigration minister later confirmed to parliament that the FFIRI president's visa had been cancelled while he was in the air because of his links to the IRGC.

Canada listed the IRGC, an elite military force whose purpose is to protect Shi'ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran, as a "terrorist entity" in 2024, five years after the US did the same.

Fifa Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom sent a letter expressing regret at the "inconvenience and disappointment" the Iranians had experienced in Canada and inviting FFIRI to Zurich on May 20 for a meeting about their World Cup preparations.

Taj told state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday that he would be seeking assurances from the governing body about the treatment of the Iranian delegation in the US.

"We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system — especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," he said on the sidelines of a pro-government night rally in Tehran.

"This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again."

'Our host is Fifa'

The US, Canada and Mexico are co-hosting the June 11 to July 19 World Cup with Iran scheduled to play two group games in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week Washington had no objections to Iranian players participating in the tournament but no one with ties to the IRGC would be admitted to the country.

Taj, who served as a high-ranking official with the IRGC in Isfahan Province before moving into soccer administration, said anything short of cast-iron guarantees could result in the Iranian delegation turning back at the U.S. border.

"We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is Fifa - not Mr. Trump or America," he added.

"If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.

"Because if they do, then naturally it could create the same kind of situation that happened in Canada, where there was a possibility we might have to return.

"So there must be this kind of guarantee so that we can go with peace of mind."

Iran's participation in the World Cup has been in question since the US and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February.

With Iranian top-flight football suspended, the home-based players have been in a training camp in Tehran preparing for the tournament.

Taj said the FFIRI were hoping to set up at least one friendly with a "very good team" in neighbouring Turkey, where Iran played matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica in late March.

- Reuters 

QUALIFYING NATION TO BOYCOTT 2026 WORLD CUP DRAW AMID ROW WITH DONALD TRUMP

The Iranian football federation are set to boycott next week's draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington D.C. The news comes amid an ongoing dispute with the country's President, Donald Trump.

Iran, who qualified for the competition for the fourth successive time in March, are one of 19 nations whose citizens are restricted from entering the United States next summer after a travel ban was announced by the President in June 2025. Haiti, who qualified for the tournament in November after a 2-0 win against Nicaragua, also find themselves in the same predicament.

An exemption to the ban was set to be granted for "any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state." But in October, the US denied the Iranian delegation entry for the World Cup draw, which is set to take place on the 5th December.

Iranian Federation Now Set to Boycott World Cup Draw

World Cup - Asian Qualifiers - Group A - Iran v North Korea - Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran - June 10, 2025 Iran players pose for a team group photo before the match Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

The report at the time stated that the list of people denied entry to the US included the federation's president, Mehdi Taj, national team coach, Amir Ghalenoei, and seven other officials. After taking the issue up with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Ghalenoei and four others were granted a visa, but Taj and three individuals were still denied one.

A spokesperson for the country's football federation, Amir Mehdi Alavi, told the Tehran Times, via the Guardian, how the decision to reject the application was, "unrelated to sport," with the move potentially leading to Iran withdrawing from the competition completely.

"We have informed Fifa that the decisions taken are unrelated to sport and that the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw."

Amid the uncertainty created by Trump's travel ban, Infantino met with the President earlier in November to discuss a faster visa interview process for those travelling to the US for the World Cup. FIFA have since confirmed the creation of the FIFA Pass, which will give ticket holders for the competition priority access to the visa applications process. But they are not guaranteed to be successful, with the government recently announcing that Haiti fans applying for entry will not be granted special circumstances to attend matches.

Trump Set to Join Infantino for World Cup Draw

So far, 42 teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, which is set to take place across the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer between June and July. The six remaining spots will be decided through play-offs, with four set to be filled by European nations, while two will be awarded via an inter-confederation mini-tournament.

Every country, qualified or not, is set to discover their opponents at the tournament next week, though, with President Trump joining Infantino at the John F Kennedy Center for the draw. Due to the competition's expansion to 48 teams, the draw is expected to take 45–50 minutes, as nations are drawn into groups A to L.

The full fixture list of group games and kick-off times will be made available after the draw, while an updated match schedule will then be released on 6th December, confirming which stadium will be assigned to each game.

- Luke Collins