Iran Prepares Behind Closed Doors for World Cup Warm-Up Match

The Iranian Football Federation announced on Wednesday that the national team will hold its last friendly match ahead of the World Cup behind closed doors in Turkey on Thursday. Following this, the team will travel to its training camp base in Mexico on Saturday.

Iran is grouped with Egypt, Belgium, and New Zealand in Group G of the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

The team has played three friendly matches during two training camps in Antalya, Turkey, where it lost to Nigeria but won against Costa Rica and Gambia. Tomorrow, Iran will face Mali at a coastal resort in Turkey.

In a statement, the Iranian Football Federation said, "Due to the importance of the friendly match against Mali and in line with the technical objectives of Iran’s coach, tomorrow’s match will be held behind closed doors without media presence."

The Iranian Federation successfully convinced FIFA to allow the team to move its World Cup camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico. From there, the team will cross the border to play its first two group matches against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles.

Iran’s final group stage match against Egypt will take place in Seattle.

Earlier, Iran’s Football Federation president, Mehdi Taj, was barred from entering Canada to attend FIFA’s general assembly in late April due to his connections with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Iran is scheduled to begin its World Cup campaign against New Zealand on June 15.