The Iranian soccer team arrived in the United States on Sunday for the first time at this World Cup, landing at Los Angeles International Airport and holding a news conference on the same day that a peace deal between the two nations was announced.
The Iranian team arrived after a short flight from Tijuana, Mexico, where they left their base camp early for a rousing farewell before their opening match against New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium on Monday.
“I am very happy to represent the great, proud and strong nation of Iran,” Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei said through a translator at a news conference at the stadium.
“I hope football will bring joy and fun, and bring cultures and countries closer together.”
The Group G match against New Zealand will be played against the backdrop of the US-Iran war and the recently announced peace deal, adding a charged atmosphere to a competition between two nations that have never met in a World Cup.
Iran moved its World Cup base camp from a sports complex in Arizona to Mexico late last month after the United States and Israel carried out joint strikes against Iran starting in late February.
Iran will now have to travel from Mexico to the United States for each of their three group matches and Ghalenoei said the travel and denial of visas to the United States for some members of their soccer federation had had a negative impact on the team.
The US-Iran deal to end the war will be signed in an official ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on social media on Sunday.
Ghalenoei said the team’s players and coaches were “not political people.”
“We are here to play football and represent the respectful Iranian people, whether it is Iranians in Iran or the Iranian diaspora.”
“Mexico is on your side”
Earlier in Tijuana, fans lined up five at a time on a crowded sidewalk in front of the Iranian hotel chanted “Team Melli” – Persian for “national team” – as Iranian players filed out of the hotel and headed toward the waiting bus.
Many players waved and smiled at those who had gathered while some members of the delegation took videos of the scene with their phones.
One supporter held a yellow sign with black letters reading: “Iran, you will never walk alone.” Mexico is on your side.
A young boy perched on someone’s shoulders held the official Panini 2026 FIFA World Cup sticker album, open on the Iranian team page.
At one point, the crowd chanted in Spanish: “Iran, brother, you are Mexican now.”
Iran’s football federation president Mehdi Taj stood outside the hotel as the players left, while many fans followed the bus away down the street.
Tijuana’s Iranian community is tiny — about 20 people — and much smaller than Los Angeles, which is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Tens of thousands of Iranian Americans live in Los Angeles, where a distinct diaspora, often called “Tehrangeles,” has taken root.
This is the first World Cup since its creation in 1930 in which a host country hosts a country with which it is at war.
