Iran men’s soccer team heading to Turkey for World Cup preparations

Iran’s World Cup team will travel to Turkey on Monday for a training camp, friendly matches and to finalize visa applications before heading to the United States, head coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Saturday.

Team Melli will return to Antalya where they trained and played friendly matches in March.

They are recruiting a squad of 30 players, which will have to be reduced to a maximum of 26 for the World Cup. Perhaps the best known is former Porto striker Mehdi Taremi, 33, now at Olympiacos.

“Selecting 30 players for this final training camp before the World Cup was the most difficult technical decision of my coaching career,” Ghalenoei told the Iranian football federation website, adding that he selected the players solely on “technical criteria.”

Iran hopes to play two friendly matches in Antalya. They have already confirmed one match, against Gambia, on May 29, said Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who runs a company that organizes friendlies for the team.

Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations in 1980 and players are expected to use their time in Türkiye to complete the necessary procedures to obtain visas.

“No visa has been issued yet,” Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian football federation, told Iranian media on Thursday.

Taj said players had to undergo fingerprinting in Turkey as part of the visa process, but wanted to avoid a journey of more than 280 miles from Antalya to Ankara.

Taj is expected to hold talks with FIFA President Gianni Infantino as Tehran seeks assurances for its team amid heightened tensions. the ongoing war.

When the team reaches the United States, Iran will set up base camp in Tucson, Arizona.

They are due to begin the group stage of their World Cup campaign against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium, south of Los Angeles, on June 15, before facing Belgium at the same stadium and then Egypt at Lumen Field in Seattle.

President Trump appears to be sending mixed messages about whether he thinks Iran should compete in the World Cup. In a meeting at the White House in mid-March, Mr. Trump told FIFA representatives that Iran was welcome to participate in the tournament, officials told CBS News at the time. However, two days later, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, that while the Iranian team was “welcome” to participate, he did not “think it was appropriate for them to be there, for their own lives and safety.”

Following the remarks, Taj said Iran was negotiating with FIFA to play their matches in Mexico.

Infantino has repeatedly stated that Iran will participate. On April 30 in Vancouver, Canada, while addressing the FIFA Congress – an annual meeting that brings together FIFA representatives from more than 200 nations – Infantino opened his speech by “confirming up front, for those who want to say something else or write something else, that of course Iran will participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. And of course, Iran will play in the United States of America.”

Taj said last week that his country would participate in the World Cup, but under certain conditions.

“We are going to the World Cup, which we qualified for, and our host is FIFA, not Mr. Trump or America,” Taj told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.