Iran moves World Cup base from Tucson to Tijuana amid tensions

Iran’s national football team is moving its World Cup training base from Tucson to Tijuana, a Mexican border city just south of San Diego, in a relocation that underscores how geopolitics is already shaping the logistics of the 2026 tournament.

Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran Football Federation, announced the switch and said FIFA approved it. The move replaces a plan that had been publicly confirmed in February 2026, when Tucson city officials said Kino Sports Complex would serve as Iran’s base camp beginning in June. FIFA has not publicly confirmed the camp change, and officials at Kino Sports Complex had no immediate comment.

Taj linked the decision to visa-related complications, security concerns and unease about how the Iranian delegation might be treated as tensions deepen in the Middle East. The change may also make travel more practical for the team, which is scheduled to play all three of its group-stage matches in the United States.

Iran’s tournament route will take it to Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, back to Los Angeles on June 21 against Belgium and then to Seattle on June 26 against Egypt. The World Cup runs from June 11 through July 19, and Iran must submit its final 26-man squad by FIFA’s June 1 deadline. The team is also set to play Gambia in a friendly on May 29, leaving Amir Ghalenoei and his staff little margin to finalize preparations.

The base-camp move is small in operational terms, but it carries larger weight. A training site is not just a place to practice; it is where a team stages security, manages travel, handles accreditation and tries to create a stable environment before matches. For Iran, shifting from Arizona to Tijuana suggests that border politics, not just sport, are now part of the World Cup equation.