Iran's World Cup team lands in Mexico wearing #168 pins for school bombing victims, as US visa disputes deepen

A pointed arrival

Iran's World Cup squad arrived at Tijuana International Airport on Sunday 7 June, stepping off a private jet from Antalya, Turkey, with every player wearing a gold-coloured lapel pin bearing the inscription "#168". The number refers to the victims of a 28 February missile strike on a primary school for girls in Minab, southern Iran. According to Unicef, at least 168 people were killed, the overwhelming majority of them schoolgirls, and another 95 were wounded. The US military has said the school was struck because of its proximity to a Revolutionary Guard naval base and maintains it would never intentionally target civilians. Neither the United States nor Israel has accepted responsibility for the attack, which has been condemned by the United Nations and human rights groups. The US military is investigating.

The pins were noted in a social media post with a reference to Minab.

The visa standoff

While the players have reportedly received the multiple-entry visas required to cross into the United States for matches, roughly 15 members of the delegation have been denied entry. Among those refused is Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian football federation, who previously served in the Revolutionary Guard, an organisation designated as terrorist by Washington. Contradictory accounts have emerged about the terms of entry: Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, stated the team can enter the US on the morning of a match and must leave the same day, while federation spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi claimed the team will arrive in the host city one day before the first game and two days before the subsequent two fixtures.

The visas granted to the national team are multiple-entry visas. The national team will arrive in the match city the day before, for the first game, and two days before for the next two games.

Base camp in Tijuana

Iran had originally planned to set up their training base in Tucson, Arizona, but the plan was changed in late May after FIFA asked Mexico to host the delegation, reportedly because the US had refused to accommodate the Iranians. The team is now stationed in Tijuana, just across the border from California, and will shuttle back and forth for group-stage matches. Their first training session took place behind closed doors on Sunday evening at the Estadio Caliente, home of Club Tijuana Xolos. A team spokesman said sessions will remain closed to the press until 11 June. Heavily armed national guards have been deployed around the stadium.

Training sessions must be held behind closed doors and remain closed to the press until 11 June.

A disrupted preparation

The head coach acknowledged the squad is far from ideal conditions. The team spent the previous three weeks in Turkey and endured more than 24 hours of travel to reach Mexico. The coach noted that a 12-hour time difference normally requires two weeks of acclimatisation, time the squad does not have. Many players also lack match fitness because the Iranian domestic league was suspended in late February when the war began. The team previously memorialised the Minab attack during a warm-up match in Antalya in March, when players held up pink and purple school backpacks while the national anthem played.

We should have arrived last week, because a 12-hour time difference requires two weeks of acclimatisation.

Group G schedule

Iran open their Group G campaign against New Zealand on 15 June in Inglewood, near Los Angeles. They return to Inglewood on 21 June to face Belgium, then travel to Seattle to play Egypt on 26 June. If both Iran and the United States finish second in their respective groups, the two nations could meet in the round of 32 on 3 July at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Some Iranian players, despite their opposition to the regime at home, have already signalled they will use the tournament to make political statements, echoing their refusal to sing the national anthem at the previous World Cup.