Adedokun Waliyu 
Iran’s football team will leave for Spain this weekend on their way to their World Cup base in Mexico, despite still awaiting visas for both Mexico and the United States.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted jointly by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. However, neither the United States, where Iran will play its group-stage matches, nor Mexico, where the team will be based during the tournament, has yet issued visas to the players.
According to the head of Iran’s football federation, Mehdi Taj, the team will travel to Spain first before proceeding directly to Tijuana, Mexico. He expressed confidence that Mexican visas would be obtained shortly and that U.S. visas would follow quickly.
Iran has been placed in Group G and will face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and June 21 respectively, before taking on Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
Taj said the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28, following attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel, disrupted the national team’s preparations.
He explained that the situation in the country, particularly the war, forced major changes to their plans. Several arranged warm-up matches, including one against Spain, were cancelled.
The team also changed its World Cup base from Tucson, Arizona, in the United States, to Tijuana, a city on Mexico’s northwestern border, due to tensions arising from the conflict.
Iran is currently preparing for the tournament in Turkey. The team recently defeated Gambia 3–1 in a friendly match in Antalya and is scheduled to play another warm-up game against Mali.
Taj also noted that Iran’s World Cup preparations have been affected by financial difficulties caused by the country’s economic crisis and the sharp decline in the value of the rial against the U.S. dollar.
