Iran Moving World Cup Base to Mexico to Avoid Staying in U.S.

FIFA confirmed that Iran will hold its World Cup base camp in Mexico, not the U.S., as the team had previously planned.

Iran selected its base camp in Tucson, Arizona, shortly before the United States attacked the country.

Iran’s participation in the tournament, which begins June 11, has been questioned for months amid the war with the U.S., one of three World Cup host nations along with Mexico and Canada. Iran is set to play its group stage matches in Los Angeles and Seattle. Earlier this year, FIFA declined Iran’s request to move its World Cup matches to Mexico after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated he could not guarantee the “life and safety” of Iranian players. 

In a statement on Saturday, Iranian soccer federation president Mehdi Taj said “our request to change the team’s base from the United States to Mexico was approved.” Taj also said moving the base camp solves potential visa issues and the team may be able to use Iran Air for travel.

But Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum framed it differently. On Monday, she said that FIFA approached her government to ask if Iran could hold its base camp there. “The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum said, adding that her country has “no issue with that.”

A spokesperson for Trump’s World Cup Task Force did not comment when asked if the U.S. wanted to prevent the Iranian soccer players from staying in the country. The State Department did not immediately answer questions.

FIFA distributed base camp information for all 48 World Cup participants on Monday, with Iran’s location listed as Tijuana.

FIFA already paid Pima County half of the $213,952 base fee to use the FC Tucson training facility on April 10, according to AZPM News. The two sides signed their general contract in December.

A spokesperson for Pima County told Front Office Sports on Tuesday that the county is “in discussions with FIFA about the status of the financial portions of the contract and won’t have information about that for a while.” The spokesperson confirmed that the county had not received the second payment from FIFA yet, and said both sides “are working in good faith to resolve this.”

FC Tucson announced Iran had selected the site on Feb. 20, eight dates before the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks against Iran.

Also on Monday, the U.S. launched what it called “self-defense strikes,” to which Iran’s foreign ministry said the country “will leave no act of aggression unanswered.” The two sides are still technically operating under a ceasefire, and top Iranian officials were in Doha meeting with Qatari mediators about making a deal with the U.S. when the strikes happened.