Iran squad trains in Tijuana as Trump claims diplomatic breakthrough
The Iranian national team holds its first public session in Mexico, days after relocating from Arizona, while President Donald Trump announces a potential settlement to end hostilities with the US.
Iran’s national football team held its first open training session in Mexico on Thursday, marking the commencement of its World Cup campaign amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions with the United States. The squad, which recently relocated its base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, trained in front of journalists for approximately fifteen minutes at the pitch of the local club, Xolos.
Only a dozen of the twenty-six squad members attended the session, with star striker Mehdi Taremi among those absent. The players, dressed in green jerseys, engaged in light jogging, stretching, and core-strengthening exercises on foam mats. The team has maintained a low public profile since arriving for the tournament last Sunday, limiting media access to this brief window.
Iran is scheduled to play its opening match on Monday in Los Angeles against New Zealand. A team official confirmed to AFP that the squad is set to enter the United States on Sunday night to spend the night before the game. This movement follows previous statements from Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, who indicated that the team would only be permitted into the US on the day of their matches and would be required to depart immediately afterwards.
The tournament, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, unfolds three months after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, initiating hostilities that have drawn in much of the Middle East and impacted the global economy. The event marks the first World Cup held in Mexico in forty years and features an expanded field of forty-eight teams.
On the same day as the training session, US President Donald Trump claimed a diplomatic breakthrough, announcing a "great settlement" to end the war with Iran. He stated that he expected a deal to be signed in Europe by the weekend, although the status of this agreement remains unverified and specific terms were not detailed.
