{"id":18784,"date":"2026-05-24T15:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T15:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/iranian-national-team-to-train-in-mexico-during-world-cup-after-base-camp-switch-federation-leader-says-outkick-fox-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T15:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T15:46:21","slug":"iranian-national-team-to-train-in-mexico-during-world-cup-after-base-camp-switch-federation-leader-says-outkick-fox-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/iranian-national-team-to-train-in-mexico-during-world-cup-after-base-camp-switch-federation-leader-says-outkick-fox-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian national team to train in Mexico during World Cup after base camp switch, federation leader says | OutKick – Fox News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argentina will base in Kansas City for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as U.S. cities prepare for an influx of international teams and fans.
As next month\u2019s highly anticipated World Cup<\/a> approaches, participating nations are finalizing base camps across the tournament\u2019s three host countries to serve as training headquarters during the competition.
The U.S., Canada and Mexico are co-hosting this year\u2019s World Cup.
However, Iran\u2019s national team<\/a> \u2014 which has faced heightened scrutiny leading up to this summer\u2019s World Cup \u2014 recently learned it will not be based in the United States once the tournament begins. According to the president of Iran\u2019s soccer federation, the team will instead establish its base camp in Mexico.
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Iran’s national soccer team players stand onstage at Islamic Revolution Square in Tehran during a pro-government gathering before departing for training and friendly matches in Turkey ahead of the World Cup on May 13, 2026.<\/span> (Vahid Salemi\/AP)<\/span>
Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran Football Federation, announced the decision Saturday in a statement released by the federation\u2019s media relations office. FIFA did not immediately confirm the move.
Iran had been scheduled to train in Tucson, Arizona, but a move has been a possibility because of uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East and security concerns. Officials at Tucson\u2019s Kino Sports Complex declined to comment.
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According to Iran’s soccer federation, the team’s base will now switch to south of the California border to Tijuana, Mexico.
“All team base camps for the countries participating in the World Cup must be approved FIFA,” Taj said in his statement. “Fortunately, following the requests we submitted and the meetings we held with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul, as well as the webinar meeting we had yesterday in the Tehran with the respected FIFA secretary general, our request to change the team\u2019s base from the United States to Mexico was approved.”
Iran national football team players (21) Omid Norafkan and Saman Ghoddos (14) celebrate after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia zone qualifiers group A football match between Iran and Uzbekistan, on March 25, 2025 in Tehran.<\/span> (AFP via Getty Images)<\/span>
Iran plays Group G games<\/a> at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium six days later, then faces Egypt on June 26 in Seattle. The federation said Tijuana\u2019s relatively close proximity to the Los Angeles area will benefit the team and the new location “includes all training facilities, gym, private restaurant and everything else the team needs.”
Iran\u2019s men\u2019s national team, also commonly referred to as Team Melli, is set to appear in its fourth consecutive World Cup. The team has never advanced beyond the group stage.
Iran team players pose for a team photo before the FIFA World Cup 2026 AFC Asian Qualifiers Group A third round match against Qatar at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on June 5, 2025.<\/span> (Noushad Thekkayil\/NurPhoto)<\/span>
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Iran\u2019s federation said moving the base camp will resolve potential visa issues<\/a> since the team will enter the U.S. through Mexico. The president said that the team “may even be able to travel to and from Mexico using Iran Air flights.”
The World Cup opens June 11 and concludes July 19 with the Final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/i>
Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.
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Argentina will base in Kansas City for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as U.S. cities prepare for an influx of international teams and fans.As next month\u2019s highly anticipated World Cup approaches, participating nations are finalizing base camps across the tournament\u2019s three host countries to serve as training headquarters during the competition.The U.S., Canada and Mexico […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}