(FILES) Iran's forward #20 Sardar Azmoun shoots the ball past Japan's defender #22 Takehiro Tomiyasu during the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup quarter-final football match between Iran and Japan at Education City Stadium in al-Rayyan, west of Doha, on February 3, 2024. (Photo by Giuseppe Cacace / AFP)
Tehran, Iran: Iran's football team will leave for Spain this weekend en route to their World Cup base in Mexico despite still awaiting visas, the head of the country's football federation said.
The 2026 World Cup is being hosted jointly by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Neither the United States, where Iran will play their three group stage matches, nor Mexico, where the team will be based throughout the tournament, have yet issued visas for the players.
"We will leave for Spain on Saturday, and from there the team will go directly to Tijuana in Mexico," Iran Football Federation chief Mehdi Taj said on Monday on a sports programme broadcast on state television.
"We will obtain a Mexican visa tomorrow (Tuesday) or the day after, and then a US visa will be issued quickly," Taj said.
Iran have been drawn in Group G and 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.
The Iranians relocated their World Cup base, which initially was planned to be in Tucson in the US state of Arizona, to the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana
Iran are currently preparing for the tournament in Turkiye.
On Friday they beat Gambia 3-1 in a friendly in Antalya, where they will play another warm-up match against Mali on Thursday.
