The president of Iran’s soccer federation said Saturday that the Iranian national team will move its World Cup base camp from the U.S. to Mexico, though neither FIFA nor the Arizona facility that spent months preparing to host the team has confirmed the switch.The late change comes amid an ongoing military conflict between the U.S. and Iran that, over the past few months, has complicated Iran’s participation in the 2026 World Cup, which begins in less than three weeks.Iran is set to play its group-stage games in Southern California and Seattle. In late February, a week before U.S. and Israeli attacks incited the war, the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz., announced that it would be Iran’s training base.As of last week, a person with direct knowledge of the base camp plans told The Athletic that planning was in full swing, with various law enforcement agencies meeting regularly to coordinate security.But on Saturday, Mehdi Taj said in a statement that, following meetings with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul last week and a subsequent “webinar meeting” Friday with FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafström, “our request to change the team’s base from the United States to Mexico was approved.”“We will establish our base camp in Tijuana, which is located near the Pacific Ocean and on the Mexico–United States border, but within Mexican territory,” Taj continued. “The contract will be finalized and there are no issues, as it has already been approved by FIFA.”FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment or confirmation.Back in March, days after the war began, Iranian officials began calling into question whether they would travel to the U.S. for the World Cup.After U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media that he did not believe it was “appropriate” for Iran’s team to participate, “for their own life and safety,” Iranian officials said they were “negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran’s matches in the World Cup in Mexico.” The tournament is being co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.That proved unfeasible, with FIFA at the time stressing the fixtures would go ahead as originally announced in December. The matches are still scheduled to take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and Lumen Field in Seattle. Trump and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, have both since said that Iran’s team is welcome.But Iranian soccer officials have engaged in a dialogue with FIFA, and earlier this month demanded a series of guarantees from soccer’s global governing body and tournament organizers.The federation said in a statement that its national team would compete at the tournament, but “without any retreat from our beliefs, culture and convictions,” and said that organizers “must take our concerns into account.”Among the demands, Iran sought a guarantee that all players, staff and officials traveling with the team would receive visas. Some with alleged ties to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including Taj, had been denied entry to the U.S. ahead of the World Cup draw back in December, and more recently had missed the annual FIFA Congress in Canada due to visa issues.Amid the high-level talks, though, officials in Arizona had been preparing to welcome Iran. Their communications had largely been with FIFA, rather than directly with Iranian soccer staffers, but everything seemed to be on track. One person involved in the planning, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said last week that construction of the security apparatus was underway, and even that the Kino Sports Complex was planning to bring in a Middle Eastern studies professor from the University of Arizona for a cultural training session with staff who’d be working with the Iranian team.Officials at the facility, when reached Saturday, referred The Athletic’s inquiries to a FIFA representative, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Taj, in explaining the change, said that the Tijuana base would include “all training facilities, gym, private restaurant and everything else the team needs. It is a very beautiful and modern stadium complex. Its distance to our two matches in Los Angeles is only 55 minutes, which is significantly closer compared to the previous camp in Tucson, Arizona. Even if we travel by road, it would take around three hours and twenty minutes by bus… For Iran’s matches in Los Angeles, the new camp location is much more convenient.”He also said that, “with this change, issues related to visas and similar matters will no longer be a concern and will be largely resolved, since the Iranian team will enter through Mexico.”All players and staff will still presumably need visas to enter the United States for matches. If some staffers and officials who are not essential on matchday were struggling to get U.S. visas, though, the change to Mexico could allow them to be with the team but stay back at its base camp rather than travel to matches.The State Department did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.May 23, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms