Belgium vs Iran now carries a travel dispute, not just a scoreline. Amir Ghalenoei said Iran was told to board a plane and return to its camp in Tijuana immediately after drawing 2-2 with New Zealand on June 15.
He said the team expected to spend Monday night in California after its opening game, then was pushed to leave minutes after the final whistle. “They didn't even give us time to recover.”
Amir Ghalenoei and Tijuana
Ghalenoei said the order came right after the match and that everyone was told to get on a plane for the 140-mile trip back to Tijuana. He said the team was asked to leave immediately instead of staying in California after the game, and that the squad was not given time to recover.
He added: “After the game today, they said to us, 'You have to leave immediately.' It's very important for us to have time to recover, but we were asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.” He also described his team as “the most oppressed in the World Cup.”
White House FIFA Task Force
The travel issue sits inside a wider World Cup cycle already shaped by conflict, visa disputes, and travel hurdles. The Iranian football federation moved the team’s base camp from Arizona to Mexico before the tournament because of uncertainty over United States visas tied to the war.
Andrew Giuliani said the Iranian team will be allowed to come in match day minus one and will be asked to leave the day the match wraps up, a routine he said can be repeated in Los Angeles and Seattle. The Department of Homeland Security said the Iranian National Football Team agreed to those terms.
United States and Iran
The friction did not start with June 15. The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, and Iran and the United States agreed to the framework for a deal to end the conflict less than 24 hours before Iran played its first match on Monday.
President Trump later said at a G7 summit in France on Wednesday that fighting would resume if Iran did not “behave,” and Iran’s military announced on Saturday morning that it was re-closing the Strait of Hormuz, three days after the waterway had reopened under the deal. For Iran, the immediate question is whether the team can keep its recovery and travel plan intact while the tournament moves forward under the same rules that now define its route between matches.
