An improvised base in Mexico has become Team Melli’s unlikely World Cup home as security fears, visa disputes and political divisions shape their tournamentOpen-top trucks patrolled the surrounding roads outside the Estadio Caliente today, mounted by men in helmets and masks and wielding machine guns. They pass by the main entrance every few hours, guarding the massive city block, otherwise chocked with cars and smog, that the Iran national team has made its temporary, and largely improvised, home for this World Cup.This has become business as usual here in northwest Mexico, at an arena that most teams in the domestic league hate to visit thanks to its distance from the country’s other footballing hubs and its brutal artificial turf playing surface. Continue reading...

All eyes will be on Team Melli amid the ongoing conflict with the US and Israel, making their campaign one of the most unusual and unpredictable of recent timesThis article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. Continue reading...

Ghana thought they would fly to Washington on Wednesday with a victory finally under their belts, England soon in their sights. After five straight friendly defeats since qualifying for the World Cup last October, they had to settle for a draw in Carlos Queiroz’s first game in charge after Lewis Koumas’s stoppage-time equaliser.Presumably Thomas Tuchel, five hours behind Cardiff in time-zone, hunkered down somewhere in West Palm Beach to watch England’s second Group L opponents this summer. If Tuchel had the sound on, he wouldn’t have needed to listen too hard to hear the Ghana supporters present delight in Caleb Yirenkyi’s second-half opener, but they were denied victory. Continue reading...

Uncertainty has clouded the All Whites and Team Melli’s group stage opener to be held in Los Angeles on 15 JuneNew Zealand will play their first World Cup game in 16 years with much of the planet watching what is surely the biggest event of the group stage. But little attention will be on whether New Zealand can record their first World Cup win with Iran their opposition on 15 June. As well as all the headlines and anticipation, the global spotlight adds an extra layer to the challenge for New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley and his team.Ever since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, there has been uncertainty surrounding this World Cup fixture in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Former Iranian women’s team players ‘overwhelmed’ by supportRamezanisadeh and Pasandideh have trained with Brisbane RoarThe two members of the Iran football team who remained in Australia after the Women’s Asian Cup are beginning their new lives away from the spotlight, even if their dream is to return to elite football.Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh issued a statement on Friday saying they “respectfully ask” for “privacy and space”. Continue reading...

Former Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz is appointed as Ghana's head coach for the upcoming World Cup.

Iran's participation in the World Cup seems to be slipping further away on Thursday, with US President Donald Trump saying that Team Melli players would not be “safe” if they came to the United States.