TIJUANA, June 8 — Iran’s national football team arrived in Tijuana early yesterday ahead of three World Cup matches in the US, amid tensions that have turned the world’s biggest sporting event into a soft-power contest between the two countries.
The squad touched down shortly after 5 am local time after an overnight flight from Turkey, where they had been training for the past three weeks.
As the team bus left Tijuana airport, it paused briefly to allow members of the Iranian football federation to wave to about 20 supporters holding Iranian flags. Military and police personnel escorted the team from the airport to their hotel.
Football is widely regarded as a national passion in Iran, enjoyed by people across the political spectrum. However, the team’s World Cup campaign has been overshadowed by domestic political tensions, the ongoing war with the US and uncertainty over whether the squad would be permitted to enter the US for its matches.
Even the team’s presence in Tijuana carries political significance. Iran’s football federation negotiated at the last minute to move its base camp from Arizona to Mexico due to uncertainty over visa approvals and a growing sentiment in Iran that the squad’s presence in the US should be kept to a minimum, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, told Reuters.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said the team would ideally have arrived in Tijuana earlier to adjust to the time difference.
“Normally, in tournaments like this, humanitarian and ethical considerations should come before technical matters, and I believe those considerations were not extended to us,” he told FIFA after arriving at Tijuana airport.
Defender Ehsan Hajsafi said the team had endured “very difficult circumstances” since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February, but added that the players were in excellent physical condition and fully prepared for the tournament.
Iran are scheduled to play their opening two Group G matches near Los Angeles, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, before facing Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
Iran and the US could meet in the round of 32 if both teams finish second in their respective groups.
Pressure on players
This is the first World Cup since the tournament began in 1930 in which a host nation is set to welcome a country with which it is at war.
However, tensions with the US are only one factor contributing to the political pressures surrounding Iran’s national team.
Widespread protests that erupted late last year, calling for an end to clerical rule, culminated in a sweeping crackdown that reportedly killed more than 2,000 people in the deadliest unrest since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The US and Israel then attacked Iran on February 28, triggering a conflict that continues.
Abbas Milani, director of Iranian studies at Stanford University, said Iran’s footballers were facing pressure from multiple directions.
“It has become a lose-lose situation for the players,” Milani said.
“There are pressures on players not to play with the team and pressure to show solidarity with the people, while the athletes are simply there to play football.”
During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Iran’s players were both applauded and criticised after refusing to sing the national anthem, a move widely interpreted as solidarity with anti-government protesters. Since then, the pressures facing the team have only intensified, Milani said.
Visa drama
After weeks of uncertainty, the US granted visas to all players on Friday, just 10 days before Iran’s opening match.
However, several members of the Iranian delegation were reportedly denied visas, including what the football federation described as “key managerial and administrative members”.
The federation accused the US of breaching its obligations as tournament host and violating FIFA regulations.
Pasandideh said 15 of the 70 members of the delegation that arrived in Tijuana had not been granted visas to enter the US.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the dispute.
A US State Department official told Reuters on Friday that the administration had issued “the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff”.
The official added: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the US under false pretences.”
Tonatiuh Guillen, who headed Mexico’s national immigration agency between 2018 and 2019, said Mexico’s decision to host the Iranian squad reflected “solidarity at a moment of emergency”.
