Iran World Cup squad lands in south Turkiye for training

ANTALYA: Iran’s football team arrived in Turkiye on Monday for a training camp and to complete visa applications ahead of the 2026 World Cup, AFP correspondents said.

The 22 players and coaching staff in the “Team Melli” delegation flew into the Turkish resort of Antalya where they could be seen leaving the airport dressed in navy blue tracksuits.

The players were to stay several weeks before heading to the global tournament that is being co-hosted by the United States, which began bombing Iran on February 28 alongside Israel, sparking war.

The team will be based in Arizona in the US and play all three of their group matches there in spite of the war, which has been temporarily halted by a ceasefire since April 8.

But with negotiations in the doldrums, new weekend drone attacks on Gulf countries and fresh threats from US President Donald Trump have heightened fears that fighting could resume.

The team are hoping to play two friendlies in Antalya, including one against The Gambia on May 29, according to Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who heads a company that sets up friendlies for the team and is working to set up a second match.

Iran and the US cut diplomatic ties in 1980 and the players will use their time in Turkiye to complete visa applications, head coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Saturday.

’Let ‘em play’

Iran secured their spot at the World Cup in March 2025, but since then the United States has twice launched attacks on the country.

US officials have insisted Iran is welcome at the tournament, while the FIFA organisers have rejected Iranian suggestions that their games be moved to co-hosts Mexico or Canada.

“Let ’em play,” Trump said in late April.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any problem would not be with Iranian players but “some of the other people (they) would want to bring with them”, suggesting some may have ties to the Revolutionary Guards, which Washington has branded a terrorist organisation.

Last month, officials from Iran’s football federation abandoned a trip to the FIFA congress in Canada, saying they had been “insulted” by Canadian immigration officers.

One of their delegation, Mehdi Taj, is a former member of the Revolutionary Guards, which Canada has also designated a terror group.

“No visas have been issued yet,” Taj, who heads Iran’s football federation, told Iranian media on Thursday.

On Saturday, FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom held a meeting in Turkiye with the federation, describing it as constructive, as did Taj.

The squad’s US base camp will be in Tucson, Arizona.

The team, who are in Group G, kick off their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, before facing Belgium in the same city and then Egypt in Seattle.