Iran’s soccer team suspended training in southern Turkey on Thursday to pursue travel visas for the United States and Canada ahead of next month’s Fifa World Cup, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
The move indicates Iran’s intention to participate in the tournament that will begin on June 11, in line with efforts to end the hostility between the United States, which is one of the co-hosts of the World Cup, and Canada and Mexico.
Iran is scheduled to play all three group stage matches in the United States. They are scheduled to face New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21 in Los Angeles before taking on Egypt in Seattle five days later.
They would need access to Canada if they were to advance to the knockout round. The entire squad attended the selection process for Canadian visas, while some players who had not applied for US visas before the Iran war also submitted applications in Ankara, an Iranian soccer federation official said.
Some of Iran’s foreign players joined the squad in Ankara before traveling to the team’s training camp in Antalya on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, the official said.
A few members of the team visited part of the US embassy in Ankara. One player smiled when asked if his visa application had been successful, Anadolu reported. Most of the team applied for Canadian visas through the application centre, the agency said.
