Follow Iran's FIFA World Cup 2026 soccer news, fixtures, results, squad and group standings from Reuters, covering their path through the tournament.

Iran's Ehsan Hajisafi, right, arrives with his teammates for the World Cup soccer tournament in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

When the Iranian national team needed a new World Cup home, the Mexican border city — and its small contingent of Iranian expats — welcomed them.

Iran’s soccer team arrived in Mexico’s Tijuana city on Sunday – a stone’s throw from the US border – as Tehran criticized Washington over its visa restrictions.

Problems with processing visas had earlier led Iran to move its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico.

Iran’s World Cup soccer team is preparing to travel from Turkey to their training base in Mexico. Some members of the Iranian Football Federation have not yet received U.S. visas.

The wait is over for the biggest World Cup ever with 48 teams, 104 matches, three host nations and a slew of questions and controversies swirling around the highly scrutinzed event that will last for nearly six weeks.

Iran will play all three of their games in the United States but are currently in Mexico, with their players reportedly told to make the World Cup a 'war battlefield'