Iran Moves 2026 World Cup Base Camp From Arizona to Tijuana After FIFA Approves Request
Weeks of visa headaches, political noise and behind-the-scenes talks with FIFA have ended with one outcome: Iran's players will not be setting foot in the United States until they absolutely have to. Tijuana is the new base camp.
- Federation president Mehdi Taj confirmed that Iran will now be based in Tijuana, a Mexican city near the US border, after FIFA accepted the federation's request to relocate due to visa-related difficulties facing the team and staff.
- Taj said preparations for the new training base in Tijuana are already complete and the federation is in the final stages of signing the contract. He also raised the possibility of Iran Air operating direct flights to Mexico for the tournament.
- Iran will travel to the United States only for matches, with Taj noting that the flight time to Seattle for their game against Egypt remains roughly three hours, similar to the original plan from Arizon
It has been one of the more politically charged storylines heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and it took until the final weeks before the tournament to reach a resolution. Iran will not be based in the United States during the competition. After weeks of negotiations, visa concerns, and public pressure from all directions, FIFA has approved a relocation of the Iranian squad's base camp from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. The team will cross the border only for matches.
How It Got To This Point
The original plan had Iran training at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, a facility that had been preparing for months to host them. Staff at the Kino Sports Complex had been cutting grass to FIFA regulation height, locking in hotel rooms and meeting spaces, and holding up to 20 meetings a week to get everything ready. The complex director described the city as welcoming Iran with open arms.
But the political backdrop never settled. Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic ties since 1980, and players were using a stint in Turkey to complete visa procedures, with federation head Mehdi Taj confirming no visas had been issued as recently as last week.Â
Iran had previously pushed FIFA to move its actual matches from the US to Mexico, a request FIFA flatly rejected, saying all games would be played as per the schedule announced in December 2025. The compromise reached is a different one: the matches stay where they are, but the team will not set foot in the United States until they have to.Â
Trump complicated things further in March, writing on social media that while the Iranian team was "welcome" to participate, he did not "believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety." Those comments intensified the pressure on Iran's federation to find an alternative.Â
What The Tijuana Arrangement Looks Like
According to Taj, the relocation to Tijuana is expected to ease most of the visa-related concerns, as players and staff will be able to prepare on Mexican soil and enter the United States only on matchdays. The travel time to Seattle for Iran's fixture against Egypt is roughly three hours from Tijuana, comparable to the original Arizona setup.Â
Iran is scheduled to play all three of its group-stage matches in the United States. The federation is in the final stages of formalising the new base camp contract and Taj has raised the possibility of Iran Air running direct flights to Mexico to support the team throughout the tournament.Â