"Can they stay overnight in Mexico?" FIFA asked. "Yes. No problem," Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum answered. And just like that, one of the strangest logistical puzzles of the 2026 World Cup found its solution on the Mexican border.
Iran's national team will be based at Centro Xoloitzcuintle in Tijuana — Xolos territory, for those who know their Liga MX — after months of uncertainty over whether they'd be allowed into the United States at all. Washington made clear it didn't want the squad staying on American soil overnight. FIFA asked Mexico to step in. Mexico obliged.
55 minutes to Los Angeles — better than Tucson
The original base camp was set for Tucson, Arizona. The switch to Tijuana actually works out better on paper. Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj flagged it himself: the flight from Tijuana to Los Angeles is just 55 minutes. "This is a very good advantage," he said, and he's not wrong.
Iran plays all three group stage matches in the United States — New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, both in Los Angeles, then Egypt on June 26 in Seattle. That Seattle trip is the real logistical test: a cross-border commute for a game in the Pacific Northwest isn't exactly a commuter hop. But for the LA fixtures, the setup is workable.
Whether this base camp disruption costs Iran mentally is harder to judge. The squad will be crossing the US-Mexico border before each match, navigating geopolitical tension that has nothing to do with football and everything to do with what surrounds it. That kind of noise doesn't vanish just because a travel plan is confirmed.
What this means for Iran's World Cup odds
Iran drew a group with New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt. On paper, they're not favourites to advance, but they're not out of it either. Belgium's consistency at major tournaments makes them the group's benchmark, and Iran's defensive organisation has caused problems before at this level — they frustrated England and Wales at the 2022 World Cup before imploding defensively late on.
The Tijuana arrangement is now officially confirmed by FIFA's finalization of base camp sites, with the plan being coordinated through Mexico's Senator Gabriela Cuevas and Tourism Secretary Josefina Rodriguez Zamora. The bureaucracy is in motion. The flights are booked. The question now is whether Iran can perform once they get off the plane.
