Last-minute visas and moving training camp: Iran's road to the World Cup

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Last-minute visas and moving training camp: Iran's road to the World Cup2 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GooglePooriah JafrehOrhan Cicek/Anadolu via Getty ImagesPlayers of the Iran National Football Team during a friendly match against Gambia in MayWhen Iran qualified for the World Cup on 25 March 2025, few could have imagined the challenges that lay ahead. More than a year later, Iran's participation has become one of the most complex stories of the tournament - scheduled to play at a host nation whose joint-military strikes with Israel killed Iran's supreme leader and sparked a conflict which is ongoing. Under this cloud of war, the Iranian football team faced numerous challenges, including where they would be based for the tournament, and if they could secure visas into the US.

Iran's World Cup visa sagaIran was one of the first teams to qualify for the tournament, and US visas for the players were only approved on Friday. However, visas have been denied for several members of staff, including the head of Iran's football federation, Mehdi Taj. The US State Department told the that the visas required for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including those for players and essential support staff, had been issued.

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However, it added that it would not allow the Iranian team to "abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences". Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, says the national team has been notified that, under the conditions of its visas, players must enter and leave US territory on the same day as their matches. Iran has moved its World Cup base camp from the United States to Tijuana, Mexico, amid the war and after Fifa approved the change.

The team had originally planned to be based in Tucson, Arizona. All three of Iran's group-stage matches will be played in the United States, against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, and against Egypt in Seattle. Getty ImagesThe plane carrying Iran's football team landed at the Tijuana International Airport on 7 JuneMore than 40 years of tensionRelations between Iran and the US have been hostile for more than four decades.

Since the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran and the hostage crisis that followed in 1979, the two countries have had no formal diplomatic relations. Football has often provided one of the few opportunities for direct engagement between the two countries. The most famous encounter came at the 1998 World Cup in France, when Iran defeated the United States 2-1 in a match that carried enormous political symbolism.

Dubbed by some as the "Mother of All Games" because of the political backdrop, the fixture drew global attention and became one of the most memorable matches in World Cup history. Before kick-off, Iranian players presented white roses to their American counterparts as a gesture of peace, in a moment widely seen as transcending politics.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.