Iran National Football Team Moves World Cup Base to Tijuana
The iran national football team has moved its World Cup base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico after FIFA approved the change. The switch puts Iran’s training base south of San Diego and closer to its California group-stage matches.
Mehdi Taj Sets the Move
Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iran Football Federation, announced the move in a statement issued by the federation’s media relations official on Saturday. He said the change was approved after requests and meetings with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul, along with a webinar meeting in Tehran with FIFA’s secretary general.
“All team base camps for the countries participating in the World Cup must be approved FIFA” Taj said. He also said, “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’s base from the United States to Mexico was approved.”
Tijuana Training Setup
The federation said Tijuana offers training facilities, a gym, a private restaurant and everything else the team needs. It also said the location should help the team because of its relatively close proximity to Inglewood, where Iran plays New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium six days later.
Iran will also face Egypt on June 26 in Seattle. The move was presented as a way to ease potential visa issues because the team will enter the United States through Mexico, and Taj said the squad may even be able to travel to and from Mexico using Iran Air flights.
World Cup Travel Route
The timing matters because this year’s World Cup runs June 11 to July 19 and is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Iran’s base camp shift now leaves the team preparing in Mexico for matches that will be played in California and Washington, with its first two group games coming in Inglewood before the trip to Seattle.
FIFA has not said anything publicly about the move beyond the approval noted by Iran’s federation. For Iran, the practical change is immediate: its pre-tournament home is now Tijuana, not Tucson, and the route into the United States is built around that new base.
