Iran’s 2026 World Cup Team Lands in the US as a Peace Deal Looms

Iran’s 2026 World Cup team landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, the same day the United States and Iran announced a peace deal to end a war that began in late February, in the first World Cup since 1930 to host a team from a country at war with the host. The squad flew in from their base in Tijuana, Mexico, ahead of Monday’s Group G opener against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, while demonstrators calling for regime change rallied outside the same ground in the West Los Angeles neighbourhood that is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran.

Coach Amir Ghalenoei, speaking through a translator at a press conference held at the stadium, struck a careful note. “I am very happy to be representing the great, proud and strong nation of Iran,” he said. “I hope that football will bring about joy and enjoyment, and bring closer the cultures and countries.” The team had been training in Mexico, not the United States, for the entire build-up. It had also spent the past month fighting for visas, even as President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether the squad should be in the country at all.

A Team Arrives for a Match It Cannot Host at Home

The Iran squad touched down at LAX on Sunday afternoon after a short flight from Tijuana, the base camp they were forced into after FIFA approved a move from Tucson, Arizona. They face New Zealand in their first Group G match on Monday evening, the first time the two nations have met at a World Cup. New Zealand is ranked 85th in the world to Iran’s 20th.

The fixture is the first of three Iran will play on the West Coast of North America in eleven days. It also makes this tournament the first World Cup since 1930 in which a host nation has received a country it is at war with. The US and Israel began joint strikes on Iran in late February, a campaign that has now run for more than 100 days and disrupted global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas once flowed. Iran is in its seventh World Cup overall and fourth in a row, and has never advanced past the first round.

The opening match carries a charge that has nothing to do with football. Iranian-Americans have spent the past week pressing FIFA to bar the squad. On June 10, a group rallied at Los Angeles City Hall calling for Iran’s expulsion over the regime’s killings, as LA protesters calling on FIFA to expel Iran. FIFA did not respond.

Group G at a glance

The Base Camp That Moved to Mexico

FIFA approved the switch of Iran’s training base from the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson to Tijuana on May 23, after Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iran Football Federation, told reporters that the federation had asked for the change in meetings in Istanbul and a webinar with FIFA’s secretary general in Tehran. The federation said the move would “resolve potential visa issues since the team will enter the US through Mexico,” per the approval that moved Iran’s camp to Tijuana. Officials at the Tucson complex had no comment when asked.

FIFA had earlier insisted Iran would play in the United States. At the FIFA Congress in Vancouver the previous month, president Gianni Infantino said the decision was “simple, because we have to unite. We have to bring people together.” Days before the tournament kicked off, he defended the choice of host, telling reporters in Mexico City that football’s governing body was not “kings of the world” and could not override sovereign visa decisions, in Infantino’s defence of the US as World Cup host.

The visa situation that followed exposed the gap. Iranian players were cleared 10 days before the opener, but Iranian state-linked media said 15 administration officials, including the federation head, his deputy, and a media director, were denied entry. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers the delegation would not be allowed to include individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, several of whom have completed mandatory military service. Iran’s embassy in Turkey called the denials “politically biased interference in sport” in a post on X, per the visa denials that sparked Iran’s response.

The conditions of the players’ own visas are unusually tight. Iran’s ambassador to Mexico said the squad must enter and leave the United States on the same day as each match. The team left their training base in Turkey on June 6, landing in Tijuana in the small hours of June 7 after a 20-hour flight. In March, Trump had posted on Truth Social that Iran was welcome for the tournament but added that he did “not believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”

Key dates in the saga

• Late February 2026: The US and Israel begin joint strikes on Iran.
• March 2026: Trump posts on Truth Social that Iran is welcome but raises “life and safety” concerns.
• May 23, 2026: FIFA approves Iran’s base camp move from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico.
• June 6, 2026: Iran’s players leave Turkey for Mexico on a 20-hour flight.
• June 14, 2026: Trump and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif announce a peace deal.
• June 15, 2026: Iran arrives in Los Angeles; first match against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium.
• June 19, 2026: Scheduled signing of the peace deal in Switzerland.

The Peace Deal That Was Both Announced and Denied

The peace deal was announced on Sunday by Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has been mediating talks in Islamabad. The two leaders said the agreement, called a memorandum of understanding, would be signed at an official ceremony on Friday June 19 in Switzerland, with Pakistani and Swiss mediators present.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the document has 14 points. The first is the lifting of the US blockade of Iranian ports. The MoU calls for an end to hostilities across all fronts, including Lebanon, and an agreement not to initiate war or use force. The ceasefire would be extended for another 60 days under the deal, with the nuclear question left to a second phase. Frozen Iranian assets would be released on signing. Trump, writing on Truth Social, said the Strait of Hormuz would be “open to all” once the first stage is signed, and that the US would “destroy” what he called the “nuclear dust” in Iran, his term for enriched uranium, when calm returned.

Iran did not share the schedule. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the MoU would not be signed on Sunday, though he did not rule out signing “in the coming days,” citing “the other party’s instability.” Pakistani PM Sharif’s office said finalisation was expected within 24 hours, “with the electronic signing of the peace deal immediately after,” per the disputed timeline for the US-Iran deal.

It has been successful to bring Iran to play in America, I don’t know who would’ve managed to do that … we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth, and we try our best.

Infantino, asked whether FIFA regretted awarding the tournament to the United States, said the football body had “no regrets” and pointed to the war as proof of why the tournament matters. The question of whether the MoU is signed in Switzerland on Friday or by some other means in the days that follow will land while Iran is still playing its group games in California and Seattle.

Tehrangeles and the Protests Outside SoFi

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran, with population estimates running from several hundred thousand to over half a million across Southern California. The centre of that community, the Westwood neighbourhood near UCLA, is known to locals as Team Melli‘s away end by another name: Tehrangeles. The diaspora reaction to the war, and to the national team’s visit, has been on display in the streets around SoFi Stadium all week.

Demonstrators calling for democracy in Iran and denouncing its government rallied near the stadium on Sunday. “No Shah, No Mullah in Iran, Regime Change by Iranians,” read the placards. Pictures and posters of athletes the protesters said had died after being arrested by the Iranian government lined a busy street corner in Inglewood. The January crackdown on protests in Iran, which rights groups say killed thousands, was the particular outrage that brought Mojgan Ramezani, 56, to the rally. “They’re holding hostage their own people,” she said. Hassan Haddadi, 70, said he was frustrated that most of the world’s governments had done little to support change in Iran. “We’re hoping to bring awareness to the western world, to somehow do something beyond just condemning, to bring an end to this regime,” he said.

The contrast with the welcome in Tijuana is striking. The Iranian community there numbers around 20 people. When the squad checked out of their hotel before flying to Los Angeles, supporters lined five-deep on the packed sidewalk, chanting “Team Melli,” the Persian for “national team.” Many of the players waved and smiled. One supporter held a yellow sign with black lettering that read: “Iran, you will never walk alone. Mexico stands with you.” At one point the crowd sang in Spanish, “Iran, brother, you are Mexican now.” Mehdi Taj, the federation president, stood outside the hotel as the players boarded the bus.

Ghalenoei was asked about all of it. He said the squad’s players and coaches were “not political people.”

We are here to play football and represent the respectful people of Iran, be it the Iranians inside Iran or the Iranian diaspora.

Several of the federation officials who would normally have travelled with the team remain in Mexico because they were refused US visas, including, per the federation’s own count, the secretary-general, a deputy, and a media director, as the 14 federation officials blocked from the US. The travelling party that landed at LAX on Sunday was a slimmer one than the federation had planned.

The Three Group Games Ahead

Iran’s group schedule is brutal by geography. After Monday’s opener against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium, the squad returns to SoFi on Sunday, June 21 to face Belgium, the group’s top seed. The third group game, against Egypt, is scheduled for Friday, June 26 at Lumen Field in Seattle. All three matches kick off at 6:00 PM, 12:00 PM, and 8:00 PM PDT respectively. Under the visa rules, the team will bus into the United States, play, and bus back to Tijuana each time.

Iran’s path through Group G is, on paper, the most difficult it has faced in recent memory. Belgium, ranked 9th, are a top-ten side with a World Cup third place from 2018 still on their record. New Zealand, ranked 85th, are the group’s weakest on paper but earned their place with a win over New Caledonia in the OFC third round. Egypt, ranked 29th, are competing in their first World Cup since 2018. Iran, at 20th, has never advanced past the group stage in seven attempts.

The opening match is, in effect, the swing game. A win against New Zealand gives the squad a foothold before the Belgium test. A loss turns the next ten days into a fight to avoid an early exit. The squad’s preparation has been anything but normal. A team that was supposed to base itself in Arizona is sleeping in Tijuana. A delegation that was supposed to travel together arrived in Los Angeles with at least 15 officials missing. The squad’s matches are being played against the backdrop of a war the players say they do not want to discuss. The peace deal that might change the temperature of the moment, if it lands at all, is due to be signed in Switzerland on June 19, four days into the group stage.

Iran’s three group fixtures

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where does Iran play its first 2026 World Cup match?

Iran faces New Zealand on Monday, June 15, 2026, at 6:00 PM PDT, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The two nations have never met at a World Cup. It is the opening match of Group G and the first time the squad has played on US soil this tournament.

Why is Iran based in Tijuana, Mexico, for the World Cup?

Iran’s original base camp was the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. FIFA approved the move to Tijuana on May 23, 2026 after the federation said war-related security concerns and US visa rules made a US base unworkable. The squad trains in Mexico and travels to the US only on match days, per visa conditions set by the State Department.

Has the US-Iran peace deal been signed?

As of publication, no. The deal was announced on Sunday, June 14 by President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday, June 19 in Switzerland, with Pakistani and Swiss mediators present. Iran publicly disputed the original Sunday timeline, saying the memorandum would not be signed that quickly.

Which group is Iran in, and what is the path through it?

Iran is in Group G with Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand. The squad plays New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles, Belgium on June 21 in Los Angeles, and Egypt on June 26 in Seattle. The top two teams in the group advance to the round of 32, with a possible third-place berth available depending on results elsewhere.

Why were some Iranian officials denied US visas?

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers Iran’s football delegation would not be allowed to include individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iranian state-linked media reported that 15 administration officials, including the head of the football federation, his deputy, and a media director, were among those denied. Iran’s embassy in Turkey called the denials “politically biased interference in sport.”