Iran's football team touched down at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday afternoon, landing just hours before a peace deal between the US and Iran was formally announced. The squad flew in from Tijuana, Mexico, where they had been based since relocating from Arizona last month. Monday's Group G opener against New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium now carries a weight that goes far beyond football.
Why did Iran relocate their World Cup base camp to Mexico?
Iran's training base, originally set for Tucson, Arizona, was moved to Tijuana, Mexico, at the request of the country's football federation due to security concerns. That decision came after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran starting on February 28, a military campaign that killed the nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dozens of top officials. Iran's participation in the tournament had been genuinely uncertain for months. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the US would not allow Iran to include in its World Cup delegation individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Visas were granted just ten days before kick-off.
The sendoff from Tijuana was warm. A small but vocal crowd gathered as the squad departed, with a young boy perched on someone's shoulders clutching the official Panini FIFA World Cup 2026 sticker album, open to the Iran squad page. At one point, the crowd sang in Spanish, "Iran, brother, you are Mexican now." That moment said something about how this tournament has unfolded for Team Melli even before a ball has been kicked.
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The A320 aircraft touched down on runway 25L at 4:11 p.m. ET on its second landing attempt under sunny skies, about 15 minutes from the Los Angeles Stadium that will host Iran's World Cup opener. Police were already in position at the team hotel, with security coils extended along sections of the building's front entrance.
This is the first World Cup since its inception in 1930 in which a host nation has received a country it is at war with. That context hung over Sunday's arrival. While the squad checked in, protesters gathered near Los Angeles Stadium carrying placards reading "No Shah - No Mullah in Iran - Regime Change by Iranians," with pictures of athletes they said had died after being detained by the Iranian government lining a street corner in Inglewood.
Then, later in the day, came the announcement. The US-Iran deal to end the war will be signed during an official ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed on social media. Whether that shifts the atmosphere inside the stadium on Monday remains to be seen. Iran are due to play their first Group G match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on Egypt in Seattle.
For a team that spent months not knowing if they would play at all, just being here is something.
