Iran's World Cup squad relocates base to Tijuana as US declines overnight stays

Iran’s World Cup squad will use Tijuana, Mexico, as its base camp for the 2025 tournament after the United States signalled it did not want the team staying overnight on American soil beyond its scheduled match days, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed at a press conference on Monday.

Sheinbaum said a FIFA representative approached her government after the US expressed reluctance to host the Iranian squad between games. “The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” she told reporters, adding that FIFA then asked whether Mexico could accommodate them. “And we said, ‘Yes, no problem. We have no issue with that.’”

Iran’s football federation confirmed the relocation to Tijuana — a border city directly south of San Diego, California — over the weekend, stating that FIFA had approved the arrangement. FIFA itself has not publicly confirmed the move.

Despite the change of base, Iran’s match schedule remains unchanged. The team is set to face New Zealand on 15 June in Inglewood, California, Belgium on 21 June in the same city, and Egypt on 26 June in Seattle. The squad will cross the border into the US for each fixture before returning to Mexico.

Iran had originally been assigned Tucson, Arizona, as its base camp before geopolitical tensions complicated that plan. US sanctions on Iran were widely seen as an additional obstacle to a straightforward stay on American territory.

The US State Department said on Monday that President Donald Trump had made clear the Iranian team was welcome to participate in the tournament, though its statement did not address the overnight-stay question or Sheinbaum’s remarks directly.

Sheinbaum said her government is continuing to work with FIFA to finalise logistical details ahead of the competition. The 2025 World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July and is co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.