Iran confirms squad heading to Turkiye for World Cup preparation

Iran’s national soccer team head coach Amir Ghalenoei and Iran Football Federation President Mehdi Taj attend the team’s farewell ceremony ahead of their departure to the 2026 World Cup in Tehran, Iran, May 13, 2026. (Reuters)

People gather at a farewell ceremony for Iran’s national soccer team ahead of their departure to the 2026 World Cup, in Tehran, Iran, May 13, 2026. (Reuters)

• “Selecting 30 players for this final training camp ahead of the World Cup was the most difficult technical decision of my coaching career,” Ghalenoei said
• Iran hope to play two friendlies in Antalya

TEHRAN: Iran’s World Cup squad will travel to Turkiye on Monday for a training camp, friendlies and to complete visa applications before heading to the United States, head coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Saturday.
Team Melli will be returning to Antalya where they trained and played friendlies in March.
They are taking a squad of 30 players, which will have to be trimmed to the World Cup maximum of 26. Perhaps the best known is 33-year-old former Porto striker Mehdi Taremi, now with Olympiacos.
“Selecting 30 players for this final training camp ahead of the World Cup was the most difficult technical decision of my coaching career,” Ghalenoei told the Iranian football federation website, adding that he had selected players solely on “technical criteria.”
Iran hope to play two friendlies in Antalya. They have already confirmed one match, against Gambia, on May 29, said Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who heads a company that sets up friendlies for the team.
Iran and the US cut diplomatic ties in 1980 and the players are expected to use their time in Turkiye to complete the necessary procedures for obtaining visas.
“No visas have been issued yet,” Mehdi Taj, the Iranian football federation head, told Iranian media on Thursday.
Taj said players were expected to undergo fingerprinting in Turkiye as part of the visa process but wished to avoid a trip of more than 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Antalya to Ankara.
Taj is expected to hold talks with FIFA president Gianni Infantino as Tehran seeks assurances for its squad amid tensions increased by the ongoing war.
When the squad reaches the US, Iran will set up their base camp in Tucson, Arizona.
They are due to kick off their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on 15 June, before facing Belgium in the same city and then Egypt in Seattle, in Group G.