The most important news we know today about the football team of the Islamic Republic in Tijuana, Mexico, has little to do with football. The team, which is scheduled to play its first match of the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday morning, neither speaks publicly nor is visible in the media.
Iranian media only know that a significant portion of the managers, executive officials, and accompanying personnel have not yet received U.S. visas to enter the United States. International media have reported that a body was found near the team’s training ground, a consequence of staying in what is widely regarded as one of the most unsafe cities in Mexico. Furthermore, very few images of the team’s training sessions have been published, and journalists’ access to the players and coaching staff is severely limited, virtually down to zero.
Rather than making headlines for technical and footballing matters, the football team of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tijuana is defined by news regarding the scramble of security and government officials to obtain U.S. visas, media restrictions, and security-focused narratives; a team that, in Tijuana, is being kept away from the media and public eye more than ever before.
The Eagerness and Dream of Government Officials for U.S. Visas
In recent months, Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, and Mehdi Taj, the president of the Football Federation, have frequently spoken of the close and friendly relations between the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry, the Football Federation, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The Islamic Republic’s managers assured everyone that the FIFA president would cooperate fully to resolve the national team’s problems on the path to the World Cup.
Abbas Araghchi understood this cooperation to include “holding the national team’s matches in Mexico,” and Mehdi Taj announced guarantees provided by Mr. Infantino regarding the “issuance of visas for all members of the delegation.” Yet today, the most critical news surrounding the national team is the federation managers’ protest against that very same FIFA.
Mehdi Mohammad-Nabi, the national team manager, stated in an interview with journalists from Iranian media that the Football Federation has emailed FIFA to follow up on the status of the visas and is still awaiting a response.
Reuters has also reported that Nabi criticized the lack of coordination between FIFA and U.S. authorities, stating that previous promises to facilitate the full attendance of the Iranian delegation have not materialized. The point here is that Mehdi Mohammad-Nabi told Reuters that FIFA and Infantino have “fallen short” regarding Iran’s national football team. This is a practically unprecedented stance against a president they once considered a friend.
According to reports from Iranian media, out of the 15 individuals who had previously not received U.S. visas, visas have been issued to only four: Omid Jamali, head of the federation’s international affairs; Masoud Ardeshir, security officer; Ali Afzali, from the international department; and Mehrpouya Asadi, the team’s analyst.
In contrast, 11 individuals are still waiting for visas, a list that includes Mehdi Taj, federation president; Mehdi Mohammad-Nabi; Hedayat Mombeini, general secretary of the federation; Mohsen Moatamed-Kia, media director; along with executive managers, security personnel, and several other members of the accompanying staff.
Crucially, the international coverage of this news has focused not on the players but on the managers and companions of the team. International outlets, including Reuters, Associated Press, and certain German media such as Bild, have emphasized that “the players have no problems participating in the matches,” but a portion of the Islamic Republic’s managerial and executive delegation has not yet succeeded in obtaining permission to enter the United States.
Consequently, what is framed in Iranian media as a “visa problem for the national team” is viewed in foreign media primarily as a “visa crisis for the team’s managers and companions.”
A Camp That No One Is Allowed to See
If we review the most important news from the national team’s camp, one point stands out: almost no significant football-related news is being published from inside the camp. There are neither extensive images of the training sessions available, nor free interviews with the players, nor any field reports on the conditions of the camp.
In past years, state-affiliated media outlets, including Fars, Tasnim, IRNA, and even sports media close to the Football Federation, usually enjoyed extensive access to the national team’s camps. In Tijuana, however, the conditions are different.
Local Mexican media have reported that the Iranian national team’s training sessions are being held behind closed doors, and even many local journalists do not have direct access to the practices. Local Tijuana officials have also stated that Iranian football fans and city residents will not be able to watch the team’s training sessions either.
Informed sources tell IranWire that the restrictions are not limited to Iranian journalists; foreign media must also pass through security and administrative filters set by the team’s managers to speak with players or members of the coaching staff.
Consequently, after nearly a week of the national team’s presence in Tijuana, there is barely any independent narrative from inside the camp. This news vacuum has caused the most important stories related to the team to emerge not from the training pitch but from outside the walls of the camp.
A Corpse Next to the Camp and a City That Was Supposed to Be Safe
In recent days, news of the discovery of a corpse near Caliente Stadium, the training ground of the Islamic Republic’s football team, became one of the most widely covered stories related to Iran’s camp. Mexican media initially published the story, and subsequently, German and British media outlets covered it as well. Afterwards, the story made its way into Iranian media and quickly gained traction on social media.
On Saturday, June 13, Mexican media reported that the body of an unidentified individual was found in the trunk of a car parked in front of Caliente Stadium, where the Iranian national team trains. The Tijuana Prosecutor’s Office announced that the body, which bore signs of violence before death, had been left in the vehicle for several days.
The significance of this news relates not only to the incident itself but also to the perception of Tijuana that has taken shape in the public eye.
For years, Tijuana has been recognized in security and media reports as one of Mexico’s most challenging border cities. Nevertheless, in recent weeks, managers of the Islamic Republic’s Football Federation had repeatedly attempted to emphasize the security of the team’s location.
Now, however, the most prominent image from the vicinity of Iran’s camp published in international media is neither the team’s training sessions nor its preparations for the World Cup, but the news of a corpse discovered near the training ground.
In Tijuana, the national team’s most important news emerged not from inside the camp but from beyond its walls.
A Quarantine That Was Supposed to Bring Security
What can be gleaned today from the collection of news published in Iran, Mexico, and international media is a picture vastly different from the Football Federation’s official narrative.
IranWire had previously reported, citing informed sources, that the relocation of the Islamic Republic’s football team camp from Arizona to Tijuana was pursued with the involvement of security apparatuses and the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Mexico. The primary objective of this relocation, according to these sources, was to keep the team away from potential gatherings of Iranian anti-regime dissidents in the United States.
Now, on the eve of the World Cup’s commencement, the outcome of this decision is visible above all in the type of news being dispatched from Tijuana.
Managers who still lack visas, media outlets that have no access to the camp, training sessions held behind closed doors, contradictory narratives about the relocation to Mexico, and finally, the news of a corpse discovered near the training ground that has become a media headline.
The Tijuana project was supposed to bring security and tranquility to the Islamic Republic. Yet, until today, the most important news surrounding the national team has not been about football, but about the security management of the team.
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