Iran’s national football team heads to Turkey this Monday (18), where it is expected to play a friendly match and complete visa applications to travel to the United States for the 2026 World Cup, Iranian media outlets reported.
“Iran’s national football team (…) left this morning for Antalya, Turkey, to play their last friendly match before flying to the United States for the 2026 World Cup,” Tasnim news agency reported.
The same source added that the squad is made up of 22 players from the local league along with the coaching staff.
On Saturday, coach Amir Ghalenoei said they would also complete visa applications for the United States while in Türkiye.
The team’s participation in the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, comes amid a fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States that paused 40 days of war that began on February 28.
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 following the Islamic Revolution and the American embassy hostage crisis.
Iran hopes to play two friendlies in Antalya. They have already confirmed a match, against Gambia, on May 29, said Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who runs a company that organizes friendly matches for the national team.
“No visas have been issued yet,” Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian football federation, told Iranian media on Thursday.
Taj said players were expected to undergo fingerprinting in Turkey as part of the visa process, but wanted to avoid traveling more than 240 miles from Antalya to Ankara.
On Saturday (16), the general secretary of FIFA (International Football Federation), Mattias Grafstrom, held a meeting in Turkey with the Iranian federation, classifying it as excellent and constructive.
Taj also described Saturday’s meeting as “positive and constructive” without elaborating.
When the team arrives in the United States, Iran is expected to establish its headquarters in Tucson, Arizona.
The team, which is in Group G, is scheduled to begin its World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.
They will then face Belgium in the same city, on the 21st, and later Egypt in Seattle, on the 26th.
