Iran's World Cup Squad Bases in Mexico Amid Visa Crisis
The 70-member delegation landed in the northwestern border state of Baja California — a far cry from their originally planned base in Tucson, Arizona, approximately 400 miles north of the border. The shift was driven in large part by the escalating US-Israeli war on Iran, which has cast a long shadow over the team's World Cup preparations.
The arrangement places the squad in an unprecedented operational situation. The team will fly by air to Los Angeles and Seattle for its Group G fixtures, but must return to Mexican territory on the same day as each match — a logistical tightrope that remains only partially resolved.
The visa crisis compounds the pressure. As of Saturday, Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, confirmed that US authorities had withheld visas from 15 members of the team's technical and administrative staff. Pasandideh indicated the squad would depart each morning for its three scheduled US matches and return the same evening, with travel arrangements — whether by private aircraft or overland — still pending finalization subject to FIFA's requirements.
Iran opens its 2026 World Cup campaign on June 15 against New Zealand, before facing Belgium on June 21 and Egypt on June 26. Should the team advance beyond the group stage, Mexico would remain their operational base throughout.
The geopolitical backdrop darkens further still. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Israeli forces struck Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon's capital — an assault that has continued despite an existing ceasefire and US calls for negotiations in Washington. Israel has simultaneously rejected Iran's proposed peace terms, further inflaming the regional crisis.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a pointed warning in response, drawing a direct line between the Lebanese front and the broader ceasefire framework.
"The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation," Araghchi wrote on the US social media platform X.
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