Iran Leaves Tijuana for World Cup Opener Amid Tension and Supportive Crowds

Iran’s national team departed its training base in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sunday evening and headed to the airport for its flight to the United States, where it will open Group G against New Zealand in Inglewood, California, in the early hours of Tuesday, June 4, at 4:00 a.m. on Sport1. The trip has become one of the major stories of the 2026 World Cup so far, especially amid reports of a developing political agreement.

As the players left their hotel and walked to the bus, local supporters greeted them with chants of “Team Melli,” the Persian term for the national team. Many players waved and smiled back, while some members of the delegation filmed the scene on their phones. Fans held signs reading, “Iran, you will never walk alone. Mexico is with you,” and one child was seen holding the official Panini World Cup 2026 sticker album open to Iran’s page.

At one point, the crowd sang in Spanish, “Iran, sister, you are Mexican now.” At the same time, members of the Iranian-American community said they would gather near the stadium to protest what they describe as the Iranian regime’s ongoing human rights abuses.

Iran moved its base camp from Arizona to Mexico at the end of last month after joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on targets in Iran beginning in late February. The match against New Zealand will be played against a backdrop of security tensions and confrontation between the countries, making it the first-ever World Cup meeting between the two sides.