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Rabat – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Mexico will host Iran’s national team during the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Speaking during her daily morning press conference on Monday, Sheinbaum stated that Mexico stepped in because the United States was unwilling to host the Iranian squad.
Mexico’s head of state explained that FIFA approached her government directly after the US made it clear that the Iranian squad would not be welcome to stay on American soil during the tournament.
“We have no reason to deny them the possibility of staying in Mexico” the Mexican President stated.
“The United States does not want the Iranian team to stay overnight, but they are going to play three matches there” she added: “So they asked us: ‘Can they stay overnight in Mexico?’ And we said: ‘Yes, no problem. We have no problem”.
Iran’s squad was initially assigned a base camp in Tucson, Arizona, since all three of their group stage matches are scheduled to be played in the United States, according to BBC Sports,
However, ongoing military conflicts in the Middle East and surrounding security concerns had previously cast doubt over whether the team would be able to participate at all.
The same source reports that Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali confirmed FIFA has explicitly assured the country that the national team will be granted the necessary visas to enter the US for the tournament.
“The Fifa president promised us that all our players would receive visas. There is no reason why our players should not receive visas,” he said.
Co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico, the tournament will see Iran play New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21 in Los Angeles, before facing Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
