Players from the Iranian team that will compete in the 2026 World Cup in the United States will have to enter and leave the country on the same day of each match, departing from their base in northern Mexico. The information was given this Saturday by the Iranian ambassador.
Because of the war with the United States, Iran moved its camp to the Mexican city of Tijuana, instead of its original base in Tucson, Arizona. The team will play group stage games in Los Angeles and Seattle.
“They can enter in the morning and on the same day they have to leave,” said the Iranian ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, at a press conference in Tijuana, regarding visa conditions for the United States. The statement was made in Farsi and officially translated into Spanish.
The diplomat added that 15 members of the Iranian delegation, most of them managers and members of the technical committee, still do not have an American visa, which represents a “challenge” for the team.
Pasandideh said that the Tijuana team’s travel to the United States could be done by private plane or by land, according to FIFA guidelines.
“We respect all decisions that FIFA makes,” he said.
