Italy’s repechage to the World Cup, comes the'announcement: "Turned all plans"

Iran is flying to North America despite the halo of uncertainty still surrounding the Tehran selection’s expedition for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. At the moment, neither the U.S., where Iran will play its three group stage matches, nor Mexico, which will host the team’s training camp for the duration of the tournament, have yet issued visas to Iranian players.

“We will leave for Spain on Saturday and from there the national team will fly directly to Tijuana, Mexico,” Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj said during a sports program broadcast on state television. “We will get the Mexican visa on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest, after which the U.S. visa should arrive quickly,” Taj added.

Iran has been placed in Group G and will face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and June 21, then play against Egypt in Seattle on June 26. According to Taj, the outbreak of war in the Middle East on Feb. 28, with the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, has “completely disrupted” the national team’s plans. “The situation in the country, and especially the ongoing conflict, screwed up all our plans,” he explained. “We had organized very good friendlies, including one against Spain, which was canceled” in February.

Because of war-related tensions, the team had to move its headquarters for the World Cup: initially planned to be based in Tucson, Arizona, the training camp site was moved to Tijuana, a Mexican city on the northwestern border with the United States. The Iranians are currently preparing in Turkey. On Friday they beat Gambia 3-1 in a friendly in Antalya, where they will play another preparation match against Mali on Thursday.