Iran's base camp for the 2026 World Cup was on Tuesday switched from the United States to Mexico, after US authorities refused to host the squad for the tournament, which starts on 11 June in Mexico City.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said she agreed to the change after tournament organisers Fifa approached her government.
She said the US did not want Iran staying in the country overnight during the month-long tournament, even though Iran is scheduled to play three Group G matches there.
"We have no reason to deny them the possibility of staying in Mexico," Sheinbaum said during her daily meeting with journalists.
The White House and the US State Department have not officially commented on the change.
From Tucson to Tijuana
A few weeks after US and Israeli aircraft launched strikes on the Iranian capital Tehran, US President Donald Trump said Iran was welcome to participate in the World Cup.
However, he added that he did not believe it was appropriate for Iran's team to be in the US, for their own safety.
Iran had been scheduled to stay in Tucson in Arizona. They will now be based in Tijuana, just over 200km from Los Angeles. Tucson lies some 800km from Los Angeles.
Under the new arrangement, they will travel from Mexico to Los Angeles just before each game and return to Mexico afterwards.
Iran will open its Group G campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on 15 June. Six days later in the city, they take on Belgium. Iran conclude the group stage on 26 June against Egypt in Seattle.
Mehdi Taj, head of Iran's football federation, said the swap would help avoid visa-related complications and allow direct Iran Air flights to Mexico.
Original schedule
In March, Taj said Iran was in talks with Fifa about moving its group matches to Mexico on safety grounds.
Sheinbaum said Mexico would be open to hosting the games, but Fifa said it would maintain its original schedule.
Iran advanced to a fourth consecutive World Cup after coming through two qualifying stages in the 47-member Asian Football Confederation.
Between November 2023 and June 2024, they topped a group containing Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Hong Kong to move into the third round, where Iran finished at the top of a six-team pool to reach the World Cup.
On 16 May, Iran's head coach Amir Ghalenoei named a 30-man provisional squad for a training camp in Turkey.
Iran will play Gambia on 29 May in a warm-up match before travelling to Tijuana.
(with newswires)
