Mexico to host Iranian national team during World Cup, President Sheinbaum says

Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that plans are underway for the Iran national football team to stay in Tijuana during the World Cup and travel from there to play its three matches in the US.

Sheinbaum said at a press briefing at the National Palace in Mexico City that FIFA officials had contacted her administration to support the Iranian team’s stay in Mexico and relocate them from their current base in Tucson, Arizona, even though the team’s matches would be played in the US.

Speaking at a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Sheinbaum said FIFA officials contacted her administration about relocating the Iranian team from its current base in Tucson, Arizona, to Mexico, even though its matches are scheduled to take place in the US.

“The United States does not want the Iranian team staying overnight in the country … So, they asked us … can they stay overnight in Mexico?” Sheinbaum explained. “We said yes, no problem, we have absolutely no issue with that.”

The World Cup, hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, is unfolding amid an unstable global climate, with Washington engaged in multiple conflicts, including with Iran since Feb. 28.

FIFA has contacted Mexico’s representative for World Cup organization, Gabriela Cuevas, as well as the country’s Tourism Ministry. Logistical arrangements have yet to be finalized to shuttle the Iranian athletes between the two neighbors.

“They would arrive in Mexico and travel from here. That was what FIFA informed us: whether we agreed to let them stay overnight in Mexico, and we said yes, without any problem,” Sheinbaum said.