{"id":183949,"date":"2026-06-30T05:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T05:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/183949\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T05:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T05:12:10","slug":"heartbroken-iran-exit-world-cup-amid-silver-lining-of-mexican-hospitality-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/183949\/","title":{"rendered":"Heartbroken Iran exit World Cup amid silver lining of Mexican hospitality | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"World<\/a><\/p>\n

In their three weeks in Tijuana, Iran\u2019s players established a reciprocal relationship of love and respect with Mexicans.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s bittersweet, logistically complicated, politically charged, and heartbreaking World Cup run found a silver lining in Mexico, where the men\u2019s football team departed their base camp in Tijuana to a warm goodbye from fans in the border city.<\/p>\n

Iran were eliminated from the World Cup<\/a> on Saturday, after Austria\u2019s last-gasp equaliser<\/a> against Algeria saw them drop out of the tournament\u2019s eight best third-placed teams.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

It capped a dramatic 24 hours for Iran, who lost control of their fate for the knockout stage following a 1-1 draw with Egypt on Friday, which ended dramatically with an apparent last-ditch Iranian winner controversially ruled offside following a VAR check.<\/p>\n

The United States and Israel\u2019s war on Iran dictated the logistics for Team Melli\u2019s presence at the FIFA World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n

\"IranIran goalie Alireza Beiranvand signs autographs for fans at a hotel in Tijuana, Mexico, on June 28, 2026 [Gabriela Aoun Angueira]<\/p>\n

Iran shifted their base camp from Arizona to Tijuana not long before the tournament began, fearing visa complications. In rarely-seen stringent logistical conditions, the team was forced to depart for Mexico mere hours after the full-time whistle of their matches in the US, despite repeated requests from the Iranians to relocate their fixtures out of the country engaged in an active war against them.<\/p>\n

But from the moment Iran first touched down in Tijuana, Mexico welcomed the team with open arms. Fans thronged the perimeter of the team\u2019s hotel before and after their travels for each group stage match, holding posters and waiting for autographs from players.<\/p>\n

\"epa13037220Fans bid farewell to the Iranian team\u2019s players outside their hotel in Tijuana, Mexico, on June 14, 2026 [Joebeth Terriquez\/EPA]\u2018Hope our paths cross again\u2019<\/p>\n

The mutual love and respect that developed over three weeks made its way to social media and a global online audience that backed Team Melli through their off-pitch hardships.<\/p>\n

It was also on social media that the team\u2019s media department thanked the people of Mexico for their hospitality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for your professionalism, your support, and for covering not only our team\u2019s sporting journey but also the unfair and unsportsmanlike treatment our delegation faced during its stay,\u201d a message on X, posted by the Embassy of Iran in Mexico, read.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour commitment to reporting the facts accurately and with integrity meant a great deal to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message extended specific thanks to the residents of Tijuana, who welcomed the team with \u201cgenerosity and genuine hospitality that made us feel right at home\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all of us, leaving Tijuana is truly difficult. The memories we built here, the friendships we forged, and the affection we received will forever remain in the hearts of every member of the Iranian National Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, and we hope our paths cross again,\u201d the message read.<\/p>\n

\u2018You\u2019re Mexican now\u2019<\/p>\n

Videos on social media showed the Iranian team out and about in Tijuana as they autographed World Cup footballs and Panini sticker books and posed for photographs with fans.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, and Football Federation of Iran\u2019s (FFIRI) secretary-general, Hedayat Mombeini, spoke to supporters and media representatives over the weekend and thanked Mexico for its hospitality.<\/p>\n

The Iranian embassy in Sarajevo also thanked Mexico for graciously hosting Iran, while simultaneously underscoring the US\u2019s ill treatment of the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cFIFA should exercise greater care in selecting future host nations, ensuring they are worthy hosts and committed to humanitarian principles,\u201d the post on X read.<\/p>\n

Social media users touched by the bond that had developed between the two nations hoped Mexico would go far in the tournament with the backing of their Iranian supporters.<\/p>\n

The emotions were capped off on the day of Iran\u2019s departure, when several fans sporting baseball hats adorned with the words \u201cIran, brother, you\u2019re Mexican now\u201d waited to bid goodbye to the Iranian team outside their hotel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In their three weeks in Tijuana, Iran\u2019s players established a reciprocal relationship of love and respect with Mexicans.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[2714,34,2980,2979,49,42,1023,73,3222],"class_list":["post-183949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-football","tag-iran","tag-latin-america","tag-mexico","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran","tag-world-cup-2026"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116837347907789798","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}