Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on Monday that her country has “no issue” with hosting Iran‘s World Cup team. This follows the squad’s decision to shift their training base from the United States to Mexico for the upcoming summer tournament.
The team will continue to play its matches in the U.S., but has decided to relocate its training base to Tijuana, Mexico, located just south of San Diego, California, as confirmed by Iran’s soccer federation.
During a news conference on Monday, President Sheinbaum revealed that a FIFA representative had informed her that the U.S. was hesitant about allowing the Iranian soccer team to spend time outside their scheduled games on American soil.
“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum reported. She added that a FIFA representative then inquired, “Can they stay overnight in Mexico?”
“And we said, ‘Yes, no problem. We have no issues with that,’” she said.
Iran’s soccer team is set to play matches in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and against Belgium six days later, and will face Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.
Before the outbreak of conflict, the team had initially planned to set up its base in Tucson, Arizona. However, amid rising tensions, Iran’s squad opted for Tijuana in Mexico, as confirmed by Sheinbaum following an announcement from the Iranian federation over the weekend. The federation stated they had received FIFA’s approval for this change, though confirmation from FIFA is still pending.
Teams typically use base camps for training before and after matches. This year’s World Cup is scheduled from June 11 to July 19 and will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
The potential for a relocation had been a topic of discussion amidst the uncertainty created by the ongoing war in the Middle East and security concerns. U.S. sanctions on Iran added complexity to the team’s stay in the U.S.
The U.S. State Department stated on Monday that President Donald Trump had made it clear that the Iranian team was welcome to participate in the tournament.
The State Department’s statement did not comment on the team’s potential accommodations or on Sheinbaum’s remarks.
Sheinbaum mentioned that her government is in discussions with FIFA to iron out all logistics before the event.