Tijuana
Border city in Baja California, Mexico, approved as Iran's 2026 World Cup base camp, requiring the squad to cross into the US for all three group matches.
Last refreshed: 29 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Iran is camping in Mexico; can it cross the US border three times to play its group matches?
Timeline for Tijuana
Iran moves camp to Tijuana, demands visas
2026 FIFA World CupMexico confirms seven camps for visiting nations
2026 FIFA World Cup- Why is Iran's World Cup base camp in Tijuana?
- FIFA approved Iran's request to move its camp from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico on 26 May 2026. Tijuana is outside US jurisdiction, removing the friction of preparing on US soil, while sitting close enough to Iran's match venues in Los Angeles and Seattle.Source: FIFA
- Where is Tijuana in relation to the US?
- Tijuana is in Baja California, Mexico, immediately south of San Diego, California. The San Ysidro port of entry between the two cities is one of the busiest land border crossings in the world.
- How will Iran travel from Tijuana to its World Cup matches?
- Iran's three group matches are in Los Angeles on 15 and 21 June and in Seattle on 26 June. The squad must cross the US border from Tijuana and return each time, requiring multiple-entry US visas. As of late May 2026, the State Department had issued no adjudication on visa applications from players including Mehdi Taremi and Ehsan Hajsafi.Source: FFIRI
Background
Tijuana is a city of roughly 2 million people in Baja California, Mexico, on the US border immediately south of San Diego, California. It is one of the busiest land-border crossings in the world, with the San Ysidro port of entry processing tens of millions of crossings annually. The city is Mexico's fifth-largest and a significant manufacturing hub, with hundreds of maquiladora assembly plants serving the US market. It has also been a transit and destination point for migrants attempting to cross into the United States, and has experienced sustained violence linked to cartel competition for control of smuggling routes.
In the context of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Tijuana became Iran's officially approved base camp on 26 May 2026, when FIFA confirmed the relocation from Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, on its official 48-camp list . Mexico confirmed seven base camps for visiting nations with Iran in Tijuana alongside Colombia and South Korea in Guadalajara . The move resolved the political difficulty of an Iranian national team preparing on US soil, but created a logistical complication: Iran's three group matches are in Los Angeles (15 and 21 June) and Seattle (26 June), requiring the squad to cross the US border and return three times on multiple-entry visas that Washington had not issued as of late May.
The wider significance of Tijuana's selection is geopolitical. A border city with daily cross-border flows was chosen precisely because it sits outside US jurisdiction while remaining within driving distance of US match venues, making it a logistical workaround for an unresolved diplomatic impasse between Iran and the United States.
