Iran will fly to Mexico on Saturday for their home base for the 2026 World Cup, but all matches will be played in the United States.
Published June 5, 2026
Iran’s national soccer team, whose participation in the World Cup remains uncertain, has submitted its passports to the U.S. embassy in Turkey to obtain visas, the president of the soccer federation announced.
Mehdi Taj said on Friday that Iran was following the instructions of world soccer governing body FIFA.
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Their visas come as Iran and the United States continue to negotiate an end to the Middle East war that began with a major attack on the Islamic Republic by the United States and Israel in February.
“Yesterday, I had discussions with FIFA regarding the US visa,” Taj said. “We were told to submit all passports to the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.”
The Iranian team will fly from Turkiye to Spain on Saturday and head to a base camp in Mexico, where the team has been granted visas.
“We are waiting to see what will happen today, or at the latest tomorrow, because our national team will need to receive these passports and accompany them to Tijuana,” Taj said.
Taj said the Iranian Football Federation had “raised certain points and demands to FIFA, informing them that if they do not issue visas to the players, some of the technical staff, and other parts of the delegation, a different decision may be taken.”
“My assessment is that all visas will be issued in full and there will probably be no problems in this regard,” he added.
Iran moved its World Cup base, originally scheduled for Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, a border city in northwestern Mexico.
All three group stage matches will be played in the United States.
They open in Los Angeles, play New Zealand on June 15th, Belgium on the 21st and then play Egypt in Seattle on June 27th.
Iran defeated Mali 2-0 on Thursday in their last friendly before the World Cup.
