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Iran Will Play World Cup Games in US, but Team Has to Stay in Mexico
Newsweek ^ | May 25, 2026 | Jesus Mesa

Posted on 05/26/2026 9:04:07 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege

Iran will play all three of its Group G matches on American soil yet base its operations across the border in Mexico...

Mehdi Taj, head of the Iranian Football Federation, announced Saturday that the team's training base would relocate from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, a border city in Baja California. He cited visa complications and security concerns stemming from the U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran that began on February 28.

"We will be based in the Tijuana camp, which is near the Pacific Ocean and on the border between Mexico and the United States," Taj said in a video posted to the federation's Telegram account.

Taj said the move would allow the squad to avoid visa complications and travel directly to Mexico using Iran Air flights. The distance from Tijuana to Los Angeles, where Iran will play two group matches, is roughly 55 minutes by flight, he added.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: concerntroll; fifa; iran; mexico; mullahloversonfr; soccer; worldcup
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1 posted on 05/26/2026 9:04:07 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Related:

FIFA faces lawsuit over plan to ban Iran’s pre-revolution ‘Lion and Sun’ flag at 2026 World Cup stadiums

https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/fifa-faces-lawsuit-plan-ban-irans-pre-revolution-lion-sun-flag-2026-world-cup-stadiums


2 posted on 05/26/2026 9:08:06 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege (🩰🎶)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Hope they all come down with Montezuma’s Revenge.


3 posted on 05/26/2026 9:19:48 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

Really? I don’t think the players should be equated with the regime…Isn’t the country afraid of team members defecting like the women’s team? Obviously, on this stage, that’d be way too risky but still.


4 posted on 05/26/2026 9:22:10 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege (🩰🎶)
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To: mass55th
Hope they all come down with Montezuma’s Revenge.

What do you have against their soccer players?

5 posted on 05/26/2026 9:23:02 PM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I wonder if we’ll send a tomahawk missile down there to kill the Iranians? Sort of like the dreamed up “defensive strike” we just pulled off. 165 dead school girls makes on ponder such things.


6 posted on 05/26/2026 9:29:53 PM PDT by Karl Spooner
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Mmmm TJ! They should feel right at home over there, right?


7 posted on 05/26/2026 9:32:43 PM PDT by FrankRizzo890
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To: fidelis
"What do you have against their soccer players?"

Show me the rule that says I have to support Iran's soccer players?

8 posted on 05/26/2026 9:35:40 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
"Really? I don’t think the players should be equated with the regime…"

Why? How do you know some of the male players aren't family members of the people holding high office in Iran? How do you know some of them aren't spies for the regime? You don't.

9 posted on 05/26/2026 9:42:29 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

After what Iranians have been through, starting with the protests at the start of the year where so many brave heroes gave their lives etc... I’d rather err on the side of giving their youth the benefit the doubt.


10 posted on 05/26/2026 10:00:18 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege (🩰🎶)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Iranian team can simply commute by the old bus used by the Rockford Peaches in A League of Their Own.

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=69675bd1b8dc6765&udm=2&fbs=ADc_l-aN0CWEZBOHjofHoaMMDiKpaEWjvZ2Py1XXV8d8KvlI3jljrY5CkLlk8Dq3IvwBz-R5R-93bnJN-gfJetFY0A5MdV8u1lb0qHJqJA7ZNBEWfqFiSgbG3hpGEJP4iTKxgv7NALvdASc6PtO2CH-YhyzBFUmKYJjoeqhYJg3X5-miGzLK-8u8O_FsCo7XrkyeELLdRXLEUER9a_8dJYCn6fVLgvcqjg&q=images+rockford+peaches+bus+from+a+league+of+their+own&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0oqCR2NiUAxXPv4kEHSOFFYYQtKgLegQIFBAB&biw=1316&bih=621&dpr=1.21


11 posted on 05/26/2026 10:04:15 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: mass55th
Show me the rule that says I have to support Iran's soccer players?

No one said there is one. Not supporting them is one thing, but wishing sickness on someone who never did anything to you is another.

12 posted on 05/26/2026 10:07:29 PM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Any Iranian group travelling from Iran will be loaded with spies, malcontents and assassins.


13 posted on 05/26/2026 10:30:57 PM PDT by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump )
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To: fidelis
"Not supporting them is one thing, but wishing sickness on someone who never did anything to you is another."

Oh please. I'm going with the belief that not every person on that team, or their handlers are our friends, or wish us well. It's called being realistic and honest.

14 posted on 05/26/2026 10:48:46 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
"I’d rather err on the side of giving their youth the benefit the doubt."

Go ahead. Hitler had a lot of the German youth on his side too.

15 posted on 05/26/2026 10:49:47 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

No, the German players did not open their year protesting the Nazis the way (mostly young) Iranians did their regime, with thousands giving their lives, some in the most brutal of ways. And the Iranian women’s soccer team had a few defect to Australia just a few months ago and refuse to sing their own national anthem.


16 posted on 05/26/2026 11:06:53 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege (🩰🎶)
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To: Karl Spooner

Iran bombed their own school. Reports inside Iran at the time said the big shots didn’t send their kids to school that day.


17 posted on 05/26/2026 11:27:11 PM PDT by roving
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
"And the Iranian women’s soccer team had a few defect to Australia just a few months ago and refuse to sing their own national anthem."

Sounds like Iranian women have more balls than the men.

18 posted on 05/26/2026 11:58:35 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

Exactly right. Seriously doubt that they are blameless lambs. Because in this case,they ARE sending their best. And who gets the best training and opportunities?


19 posted on 05/27/2026 1:51:31 AM PDT by Veto!
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I doubt that crossing an international border by air twice a day will present fewer “visa complications and security concerns”.

Just fence in the Tucson training camp and keep them all inside. Problem solved.


20 posted on 05/27/2026 7:05:50 AM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
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