Iran's World Cup Base Camp Set in Tucson, Arizona — Amid Active US-Iran Military Conflict

Iran's national soccer team has established its 2026 FIFA World Cup base camp in Tucson, Arizona — a notable and diplomatically fraught logistical arrangement given the active US-Iran military conflict. The selection of a US city as Iran's tournament headquarters underscores FIFA's mandate that all 48 nations must operate from US, Canadian, or Mexican host territory, even as no Iranian players or coaching staff had yet received US visas as of mid-May. The Tucson base camp designation was reported by Complex, adding a new dimension to the ongoing diplomatic standoff: while the FIFA-Taj Zurich meeting on May 20 remains the last formal channel before the June 1 squad deadline, Iran's operational footprint in American soil has now been formally planned. Iran are drawn in Group F alongside the United States — a match scheduled for June 29 at the Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, widely described as one of the most politically charged fixtures in World Cup history.