Iran says it was told to leave U.S. after World Cup draw

Iran’s World Cup opener became a test of logistics as much as soccer. After the 2-2 draw with New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said the squad was told to leave the United States and return at once to its training base in Tijuana, Mexico, cutting short a stay he said had been expected to last until Tuesday afternoon.

Ghalenoei said the change came only hours after the match and left little room for recovery. Through an interpreter, he said the team had spent so much time traveling and passing through security checks that it could not properly rest before being sent back. He said, “They didn’t even give us time to recover,” and added that the team had been told, “You have to leave immediately.” He also described Iran as perhaps “the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup.”

The episode pushed a usually routine tournament issue into public view: how international teams are moved, cleared and protected while competing on U.S. soil. Iran had shifted its base camp from Arizona to Tijuana before the tournament even though all three of its group-stage matches are being played in the United States, a setup that has forced repeated border crossings and security screening. By Iran’s account, the trip from Tijuana to Los Angeles took about five hours, including travel and security checks, before the team even reached the field.

Mehdi Taremi, Iran’s captain, said FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited the locker room after the match. Ghalenoei did not say who ordered the team out of the country, leaving unanswered whether the decision came from tournament organizers, security officials or another authority tied to the competition’s movement protocols.

Iran had also reportedly asked FIFA to move its group-stage matches out of the United States, but FIFA rejected that request. That refusal, combined with the team’s cross-border base and the abrupt postmatch departure, highlighted the political friction surrounding Iran’s participation in a tournament hosted in the United States amid longstanding U.S.-Iran tensions.

For Iran, the draw in Los Angeles was only the first result. The bigger story may be the strain of trying to compete in a World Cup where the field is neutral, but the movement of the team is not.