Still awaiting US visas, Iran World Cup squad to leave for Mexico via Spain

Iran’s football team for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup 2026, co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, will depart for Spain en route to Mexico despite awaiting visas, the head of the country’s football federation, Mehdi Taj, said. Neither America, where Iran is scheduled to play their three league matches, nor Mexico, where the team will be based throughout the tournament, have issued visas for the players.

"We will leave for Spain on Saturday, and from there the team will go directly to Tijuana in Mexico," Iran’s Football Federation Chief Mehdi Taj said on Monday on a sports programme broadcast on state television. "We will obtain a Mexican visa tomorrow (Tuesday) or the day after, and then a US visa will be issued quickly," Taj said.

Iran is placed in Group G alongside New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt. While they play their tournament opener against the Kiwis in Los Angeles on June 15, the same venue that hosts their next league game against Belgium six days later, Iran will wrap up their league stage with the final match against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

Taj said the outbreak of the Middle East war, which began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched joint attacks on the country, ‘changed everything’ for Team Melli.

"The situation in the country, and especially the war, has upended all our plans," Taj said. "We had arranged good warm-up matches, including one against Spain, which was cancelled" in February.

Meanwhile, the Iranians have relocated their World Cup base, which initially was planned to be in Tucson in the US state of Arizona, to the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana due to tensions over the Middle East war.

Iran is currently preparing for the tournament in Turkey.

On Friday, they beat Gambia 3-1 in a friendly in Antalya, where they will play another warm-up match against Mali on Thursday.

(With inputs from AFP)