Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum draws Mexico during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on December 5, 2025. She said Monday that the Iran national soccer team will be staying in Mexico during the upcoming World Cup. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed Monday that her government will allow the Iranian national soccer team to stay in Mexico while competing in the World Cup.
The quadrennial soccer event is being held June 11 to July 19 in Canada, Mexico and the United States. All three of Iran’s scheduled group stage matches are in the United States, the first two in Los Angeles and the third in Seattle.
Following months of uncertainty about the team’s ability to travel to the United States for the games amid the U.S.-Iran war, Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj said in a video statement over the weekend that they would be based in Tijuana, Mexico, and would fly to their games in the United States.
Speaking to reporters during a Monday press conference, Sheinbaum said FIFA had asked Mexico if the Iranian athletes could stay within its borders as Washington did not want them staying in the United States overnight.
“So they asked us, ‘Can they stay overnight in Mexico?’ And we said, ‘Yes. No problem. We have no problem,'” she said.
“We have no reason to deny the possibility that they stay in Mexico. So, yes, we gave that option.”
She confirmed that the Iranian players will stay in Tijuana and will be allowed to travel to the United States for their games.
The plan is being reviewed by Sen. Gabriela Cuevas, Mexico’s representative of the event, and Tourism Secretary Josefina Rodriguez Zamora, in coordination with FIFA, she said.
The International Federation of Association Football, better known as FIFA, an acronym of its French-language name, on Monday, finalized team base camp training sites, confirming Iran will be based at Centro Xoloitzcuintle in Tijuana, a Mexican border city just south of California.
In the Saturday video statement, Taj, Iran’s soccer federation president, said the move from Tucson, Ariz., where the team was originally scheduled to be based, to Tijuana was preferred. The flight from the new base camp to Los Angeles for their games was only 55 minutes, better than if they were in Tucson.
“This is a very good advantage,” he said.
Iran is scheduled to play New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, both in Los Angeles, and Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.
Iran bids farewell to national team before 2026 FIFA World Cup
Crowds gather for a public farewell ceremony for Iran’s national soccer team as they prepare to depart for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran, on May 13, 2026. Photo by Behnam Tofighi/UPI | License Photo
