Sawt Falasteen - Iran World Cup squad heads to Mexico as US visa row erupts

The row erupted just days before the June 11 start of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The Iranian players, who have been at a training camp in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya since May 18, received their visas late on Friday, Washington's envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack said on X, hailing the work of the US embassy in Ankara in "processing visas for Iran's national football team".

But Iran's embassy to Turkey hit back Saturday with a furious response, saying a "large" number of key staff had been denied visas.

"Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?" the Iranian embassy in Turkey said in a post on X.

"You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level," the embassy added.

Iranian news outlets and the Verzesh3 sports media on Saturday said among those who were refused a visa was Iran's football federation chief Mehdi Taj as well as executive members and analysts.

- Team heads to Mexico -

The US military began bombing Iran alongside Israel on February 28, sparking war. Hostilities were halted by an April 8 ceasefire which appears to be rapidly unravelling after weeks of threats and a renewal of strikes by both the US and Iran.

Team Melli is due to leave Antalya for Mexico on a 15:20 (1220 GMT) flight that includes a stopover in Spain. They are scheduled to arrive in Mexico at 01:30 (0730 GMT) on Sunday, a spokesman said earlier this week.

The team will be based in the northwestern border city of Tijuana for the duration of the tournament, but all three of their group stage matches are due to be held in the United States.

They were originally due to be based in the US but switched their camp to Mexico due to the tensions over the war.

Iran, who are in Group G, will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21, followed by a game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

Ahead of their departure on Saturday, Iran played a final friendly against Mali in Antalya on Thursday which they won 2-0. They played a first match on May 29, beating Gambia 3-1.

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B.Mahmoud--SF-PST