Claims that the Iranian national football team will only be allowed to enter the United States for a few hours during the 2026 World Cup contradict FIFA rules.
Idman.Biz reports, citing Iranian media, that the Iranian Football Federation and FIFA have confirmed that the team's main training camp during the World Cup has been moved from Tucson, Arizona, USA, to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. After that, claims spread that the Iranian national team would only enter the United States a few hours before the games and return to Mexico a few hours after the match.
However, according to the rules set by FIFA for the 2026 World Cup, the Iranian national team can be in the host city one or two days before the games and hold a familiarization session with the stadium where the match will be held. In addition, the participation of the head coach and one of the players in the pre-match press conference should also be taken into account.
According to Article 35.1 of the FIFA regulations, official pre-match training is not allowed on the main field of the stadium. Article 35.2 states that teams that have not played in that stadium before have the right to familiarize themselves with the stadium one or two days before the match.
The Iranian national team will compete in Group G of the 2026 World Cup. The team will face New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 26, Belgium in the same city on June 31, and Egypt in Seattle on July 6.