LOS ANGELES/TIJUANA — Iran’s soccer team arrives at Los Angeles International Airport after a short flight from Tijuana, Mexico, where they left their World Cup base camp earlier, to a rousing sendoff ahead of their opening match against New Zealand.
The A320 aircraft touched down on runway 25L at 4:11 p.m. ET (2011 GMT) under sunny skies at the airport, which is about a 15-minute drive from the Los Angeles Stadium that will host Iran’s World Cup opener tomorrow.
The team is expected to head to their hotel, where a police security presence was already in place.
Coach Amir Ghalenoei and striker Mehdi Taremi are scheduled to take part in a press conference at Los Angeles Stadium at 6:45 p.m. ET (2245 GMT).
The squad’s Group G fixture against New Zealand will be played against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war with Iran, adding a charged atmosphere to a contest between two nations that have never met at the World Cup.
Iran moved their World Cup base camp from a sports complex in Arizona to Mexico late last month, after the US and Israel conducted joint strikes on Iran beginning in late February.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 14, 2026
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
