Iran's World Cup Team Departs for Mexico Amid Visa Ambiguity

Iran’s delegation will depart for their World Cup base camp Mexico on Saturday, despite the ongoing ambiguity over their visas for the United States less than two weeks before their opening game.

“The Iran national football team will depart Antalya for Tijuana at 15:20 (1220 GMT) on Saturday, June 6, and is scheduled to arrive in Mexico at 1:30 am (0730 GMT) on Sunday, June 7,” the team’s official social media account announced on Wednesday.

They will travel to Mexico via Spain.

Iran will play their last World Cup warm-up game against Mali on Thursday in Turkiye, where they have been training for the upcoming tournament since last month.

The squad have played three friendlies in ⁠two training camps in Antalya since the start of the US and Israel’s war on Iran on February 28.

Team Melli lost to Nigeria and beat Costa Rica and The Gambia. Their last fixture in Turkiye will be played behind closed doors.

“Considering the importance of the Iranian national football team’s friendly match against Mali, and ‌in line with the tactical objectives of Iran’s head coach, tomorrow’s match against Mali will be held behind closed doors and without media attendance,” Iran’s football federation said in a statement.

On Monday evening, Iran’s football federation chief Mehdi Taj said the players were expected to get their visas for Mexico either on Tuesday or Wednesday “and then a US visa will be issued quickly”.

The federation has not revealed whether visas for Mexico and the US have been received.

The World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, runs from June 11 to July 19.

Iran have been drawn in Group G and will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21, followed by a game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

US will not allow IRGC members to ’embed’

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco ⁠Rubio ⁠told lawmakers on Tuesday that his country would not let Iranians with ⁠ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “embed” themselves in the World Cup delegation.

Rubio made the comments while testifying at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington.

“What we’re not going to allow is for ⁠them to embed in their delegation a bunch of ⁠people that we know ⁠have nothing to do with athletics and have ties to the IRGC or things of that ‌nature, so we were going to watch that very closely,” Rubio said ‌at the hearing.

In April, an Iranian football federation delegation turned back at Toronto’s main airport, citing their treatment by Canadian immigration, and missed a pre-World Cup FIFA gathering in Vancouver.

The delegation members, including Taj, turned back ⁠⁠⁠⁠upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson airport despite holding valid visas, citing what was described as the “unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials”.

“They [delegation] returned to Turkiye on the first available flight due to the unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian nation’s armed forces,” the Iranian football federation said in a statement following the incident.

In 2024, Canada listed Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organisation, and statements from the Canadian government indicated that Taj was denied entry due to his alleged ties with the IRGC.

The incident prompted the federation to seek reassurance from FIFA that the US will not insult the IRGC during the World Cup.

“[The] Americans, if they guarantee not to insult our military institutions and the IRGC, we’ll go,” Taj told state broadcaster IRIB in May.

“If they give such a guarantee that an incident like Canada doesn’t happen and they definitely assure it, we will go,” he added.

At least 3,468 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health. More than 26,500 people have been injured, including at least 4,000 women and 1,621 children.

Iranian forces retaliated, launching attacks on Middle East countries where US troops are deployed, as well as Israel.