Iran's World Cup squad will travel to Turkey on Monday for practice, friendly matches and to complete visa applications before heading to the United States, coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Saturday.
The Melli team will return to Antalya where they trained and played friendly matches in March.
They are taking a squad of 30 players, which will have to be reduced to 26 for the World Cup. Perhaps the best known is 33-year-old former Porto striker Mehdi Taremi, who now plays for Olympiacos.
“Selecting 30 players for this last training camp before the World Cup was the most difficult decision in my coaching career,” Ghalenoei told the Iranian football association's website, adding that he only selected the players “on technical criteria.”
Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images
Iran hopes to play two friendly matches in Antalya. They have confirmed one match, against Gambia, on May 29, said Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who heads a company that organizes friendly matches for the team.
Iran and the US severed diplomatic relations in 1980, and the players are expected to spend their time in Turkey completing the necessary visa procedures.
“No visas have been issued,” Mehdi Taj, the head of Iran's football association, told Iranian media on Thursday.
Taj said the players were expected to be fingerprinted in Turkey as part of the visa process but wished to avoid the more than 280-mile journey from Antalya to Ankara.
Taj is expected to hold talks with FIFA president Gianni Infantino as Tehran seeks reassurance about his team amid tensions. ongoing war.
When the group arrives in the US, Iran will set up camp in Tucson, Arizona.
They are expected to begin the group stage of their World Cup match against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium south of Los Angeles on June 15, before facing Belgium at the same stadium, then Egypt at Lumen Field in Seattle.
President Trump appeared to be sending mixed messages on whether he believes Iran should participate in the World Cup. At a White House meeting in mid-March, Mr he told FIFA representatives that Iran is welcome to play in the tournament, officials told CBS News at the time. However, after two days, Mr. Trump he wrote to Truth Social that although the Iranian delegation was “welcome” to participate, he did not “believe that he should be there, for his health and safety.”
After those words, Taj said that Iran is negotiating with FIFA to played its games in Mexico.
Infantino has repeatedly said that Iran will participate. On April 30 in Vancouver, Canada, while addressing the FIFA Congress – an annual meeting that brings together FIFA representatives from more than 200 countries – Infantino opened his words by “confirming, immediately, to those who want to say something or write something else, that Iran will be participating in the FIFA World Cup 2026. And Iran will play in the United States of America.”
Taj said last week that the country will participate in the World Cup, but under certain conditions.
“We are going to the World Cup, which we deserve, and our host is FIFA, not Mr. Trump or America,” Taj told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
