Iran World Cup team heads to Mexico as US visa row erupts

Iran’s World Cup squad left Turkey for Mexico on Saturday, taking off under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row between Tehran and Washington after the US refused to issue visas for some of the team’s support squad. The dispute erupted just days before the June 11 start of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The team took off around 6:10 pm (1510 GMT) for Tijuana in northwest Mexico, where they will be based for the duration of the tournament, on what was expected to be a 20-hour flight, Iranian state TV reported.

The team “took off this evening for Mexico to participate in the World Cup after” training in Turkey, it said. Team Melli had 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.