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Iran’s World Cup team arrives in Mexico as US visa row continues

Iran’s World Cup team arrives in Mexico as US visa row continues

NewsFeed Iran’s national football team has arrived in Mexico ahead of its World Cup matches in the US, after last-minute visas were approved for players, just 10 days before their first match in Los Angeles. The team shifted its base to Tijuana amid uncertainty over US entry permits, with several support staff denied visas. Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)

Iran’s World Cup squad lands in Mexico amid US visa row

Iran’s World Cup squad lands in Mexico amid US visa row

By AFP and Reuters Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026 Iran’s World Cup squad has landed in Tijuana, Mexico ahead of the World Cup – amid a diplomatic row with cohosts United States, which is at war with Tehran and has refused visas for several members of the Iranian delegation. The squad touched down shortly after 5am (1200 GMT) in the Mexican city, across the border from San Diego in California, after ‌an overnight flight from Turkiye, where they have been training for the past three weeks. The Iranian football federation negotiated at the last minute to move the team’s base camp from Arizona to Mexico, due in part ⁠to uncertainty over whether ⁠they would be granted visas to enter the US. The US awarded visas to all the players on Friday, just ⁠10 days before their first match, but several members of the ⁠support squad were not ⁠given visas, including “key managerial and administrative members,” according to the federation. The dispute comes days before the tournament kicks off on Thursday, when Mexico play South Africa in Mexico City. Iran will be based in the city throughout the tournament, despite playing their entire group stage on the US West Coast. When they do play in the US, it will be the first World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with. ‘Hold the US accountable’ Iran’s team spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using their time in Turkiye to apply for visas for the three host nations. On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, Washington’s envoy to Turkiye, Tom Barrack, said on X late on Friday. Advertisement But Iran’s embassy to Turkiye said 15 administrative and management staff had been denied visas. “You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy posted on X on Saturday, calling for world football’s governing body FIFA “to hold the US accountable for violations of its rules”. Adding to the tensions, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico said on Saturday that the squad had been notified that under their visa conditions the team must enter and leave US soil on the same day as their matches. “We can enter in the morning and we must leave the same day,” Iran’s envoy Abolfazl Pasandideh told reporters. That appeared to contradict what the team’s spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi told state TV earlier. “The visas issued for the national team are multiple-entry visas, and the national team will arrive at the match venue one day before the first game and, for the following games, two days prior to each match,” Alavi said. FIFA rules for World Cups stipulate that a team’s coach must give a news conference on the eve of the match at the venue where the game will be played. (Al Jazeera) ‘Political interference’ Iran’s Football Federation – whose chief Mehdi Taj was reportedly among those denied a visa – has described the decision as “political interference in sport in its worst form”. In response, a US administration official confirmed that “the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.” Without directly addressing the matter of those whose visas were refused, the official added: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences.” In April, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any problem would not be with the Iranian players but “some of the other people (they) would want to bring with them,” suggesting some had ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is on the US blacklist of “terrorist” groups. Iran are in Group G and will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21, followed by Egypt in Seattle on June 26. Adblock test (Why?)

From online class to Revolution Square: A Tehran teacher’s routine amid war

From online class to Revolution Square: A Tehran teacher’s routine amid war

The “Ramadan War”, as the US-Israel war on Iran is popularly known, disrupted daily life in Iran. Universities, schools and industries were bombed, and streets were emptied out. Mehran, a 47-year-old teacher based in central Tehran, has been forced to teach his students online from a cramped corner of his modest apartment as distance learning has become the norm. “Life hasn’t stopped here, as some might imagine, but it has taken on a completely different rhythm,” Mehran told Al Jazeera, which shadowed the teacher, who wished to be identified by a single name, as he navigated a new reality dictated by the war. From the frustrations of a virtual classroom to pharmacies with bare shelves, and from hyperinflation to crowded, fare-free public buses, Mehran’s day offers a microcosm of a city desperately trying to maintain normalcy as war leaves its indelible mark. The digital bottleneck Mehran’s day begins with a gruelling battle for bandwidth. Following the curbs on the internet during the early days of the war, the education system shifted to the domestic “Shad” e-learning platform. “The national internet is available, but it has become frustratingly weak due to the massive surge in users,” the teacher explained with an exhausted smile. “Sometimes my voice breaks up, and suddenly dozens of students just vanish from the platform.” Inside his small apartment in the Amirabad neighbourhood, the day is a cacophony of overlapping lives. In the living room, his 14-year-old daughter, Mehraneh, squints at an old tablet for her own lessons. In the narrow hallway leading to the kitchen, his eight-year-old son, Sam, clings to his mother’s smartphone, hovering near the window to catch the strongest signal. Advertisement Meanwhile, Mehran’s 41-year-old wife, Azadeh, manages the finances for a private company from another room – a job that transitioned entirely to remote work until last month. “The weak internet can barely sustain one stable connection, let alone three or four at the same time,” Mehran said. “Add to that the cramped space and total lack of privacy, and the daily toll just multiplies”. The cost of survival When the virtual school bell rings, Mehran heads to a nearby pharmacy to buy heart medication for his mother. At first glance, the shelves look neat and well-stocked, but a closer look reveals that dozens of essential medicines have been unavailable for over a month. According to Mehri, a young pharmacy worker, prices for both domestic and imported drugs have skyrocketed. After paying for a month’s supply, Mehran quietly slips the boxes into his bag. “Medicines now eat up a quarter of my salary; they used to be just seven percent,” he noted. Still, he considers himself lucky. Other families face severe shortages of life-saving drugs due to the United States naval blockade of Iranian ports and suspended flights that have crippled supply chains. The economic strain is even more glaring at the Jomhouri electronics market. Mehran travelled there to buy a new television ahead of football’s World Cup, which is going to be held in Mexico, the US and Canada, as his old set was damaged by explosions near his home during the final week of the war. Football is the most popular sport in Iran. Its national team has been based in Mexico amid the conflict with the US. Mehran has opted for the metro over a taxi amid soaring inflation. Public transport has been free since the war began, a government measure to ease traffic and conserve petrol. Inside an electronics shop, a vendor observed: “The war made transportation free, but it made everything else unaffordable, especially food.” The vendor noted that TV prices in his shop alone had surged by 40 to 60 million rials ($29 to $44) – roughly matching the dramatic plunge of the local currency, the rial, against the US dollar. At a nearby shop selling TV stands, 59-year-old owner Ali Morad said prices have doubled since last winter, despite the goods being entirely locally manufactured. He blamed soaring wages, rent, and raw material costs, which have driven customers away as their purchasing power has evaporated. An illusion of normalcy Exhausted by the market, Mehran takes a break at the nearby Osta public park. The scene is jarringly serene: children bouncing around colourful playgrounds, families picnicking under ancient trees, and young men vigorously using outdoor gym equipment. Advertisement In a quiet corner, an elderly woman sits entirely absorbed in a paperback book, insulated from the chaos. “For a second, looking at this, you forget we are living under a blockade,” Mehran reflected. “You see Tehran wresting its right to live from the jaws of breaking news and a relentless war.” But 22-year-old Mona sees a different reality. The calm, she argued, is just the “face of a city learning to dance on the edge of crisis”. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mona explained that the people in the park are not there for leisurely strolls; they are seeking a free space to breathe. Their household budgets have been decimated by doubled food costs and internet bills. To Mona, the parkgoers are hiding profound exhaustion behind a facade of tranquility. “It’s as if they collectively decided to grant themselves an hour-long ceasefire from the idea of war before they have to go back home,” she added. Searching for rhythm in the dark As night falls over Tehran, Mehran does not head home. Instead, he makes his way to Enghelab (Revolution) Square near Tehran University. Here, hundreds of men and women gather nightly to chant nationalistic slogans and sing in support of the state and its armed forces. “These gatherings make us feel like we are all in the same trench,” he said. “We might not have stealth bombers or aircraft carriers, but we have our voices and our physical presence. The war may have stolen our comfort, but it gave us back our social solidarity.” What started as a political statement has evolved into a psychological anchor. “Up until the 10th night, I came here out of duty,” Mehran