Iran's World Cup team arrives in Mexico as US visa row rages

Tijuana, Mexico: Iran's World Cup squad landed in Mexico on Sunday, June 7, 2026, under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row, after the United States -- which is in open military conflict with Tehran -- refused to issue visas for some team support staff. cat-cross.com

The dispute erupted just days before Thursday's kickoff of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

After departing from their training camp in Turkey a day earlier, the Iran team landed early Sunday in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, AFP witnessed.

The team will be based in the city throughout the tournament, despite playing their entire group stage in the United States.

When they do play in the US, it will be the first World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with.

Iran's team spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using their time in Turkey to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada and the United States.

On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, Washington's envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack said on X late Friday.

But Iran's embassy to Turkey said support staff had been denied visas -- 15 administrative and management staff are concerned, an Iranian diplomat and state TV said.

"You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level," the embassy wrote Saturday on X, calling for world football's governing body FIFA "to hold the US accountable for violations of its rules."

Adding to the tensions, Iran's ambassador to Mexico said Saturday the squad had been notified that, under their visa conditions, the team must enter and leave US soil on the same day as their matches.

"We can enter in the morning and we must leave the same day," Iran's envoy Abolfazl Pasandideh told reporters.

That appeared to contradict what the team's spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi told state TV earlier.

"The visas issued for the national team are multiple-entry visas, and the national team will arrive at the match venue one day before the first game and, for the following games, two days prior to each match," Alavi said.

FIFA rules for World Cups stipulate that a team's coach must give a news conference on the eve of the match at the venue where the game will be played.

Iran condemned the US refusal to issue visas to several national team officials and said it would take the case to FIFA before the World Cup.

The Iranian Football Federation condemned the United States’ refusal to grant entry visas to several national team officials ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

The federation said in an official statement that the US decision violated international sports laws and regulations. It said it would pursue the matter through FIFA.

Iran said the rejected visas affected key managerial and administrative members of the national team delegation. The federation described the decision as political and said it had harmed the team’s right to equal treatment during the tournament.

The statement called on FIFA to intervene and secure visas for Iran’s managerial, executive, technical and support staff. It said those staff members are currently with the team and remain necessary for its World Cup preparations.

The dispute comes one day after Iran’s players received US visas before their opening match. Some officials and administrative staff were still waiting for approval.

Iran moved its World Cup base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, after earlier visa uncertainty and security concerns. The team will travel into the United States for its group-stage matches.

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Team Melli will open Group G against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. The team will also face Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21 before playing Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

The post Iran to Appeal to FIFA Over US Visa Refusals appeared first on KingFut.

Guadalajara, Mexico: Two elephants trudged across a makeshift football field at Mexico's Guadalajara Zoo in a whacky attempt to predict the score of the 2026 World Cup's opening game.

The creatures faced a prophetic choice: munch on the grass on the side marked with a Mexican flag, or opt for the greenery on the opposing South African side.

Their split-second choice to amble over to the former consolidated the prediction that Mexico will emerge as the winner of the highly anticipated match on June 11.

This fortune-telling exercise follows in the footsteps of South Africa's unforgettable Paul the Octopus in 2010.

"The idea is that the animals are going to make predictions about different matches that will be played," zookeeper Ivan Reynoso told AFP.

Next up, the gorillas Chenchi and Faustina were presented with two pinatas shaped like player jerseys -- one from Spain, and the other from Uruguay.

There was a tense pause until one of the primates suddenly went for Uruguay's shirt, suggesting the South American nation will win the June 26 match.

"It's clear who won!" one zookeeper exclaimed excitedly.

A puma named Muluk seemed sure that South Korea will triumph against the Czech Republic, and six giraffes hedged their bets with the Democratic Republic of Congo over Colombia.

Reynoso said the betting "stimulates many senses" for the animals on top of providing entertainment for an audience giddy with excitement ahead of the world's biggest football bonanza.

"This kind of activity enriches them a great deal, not only visually for the audience but for them as well," he said.