By Herbert Villarraga
TIJUANA, Mexico, June 14 (Reuters) - Iran's national soccer squad left their Tijuana base camp to a rousing sendoff on Sunday, with supporters lining five-deep on a packed sidewalk outside their hotel on the eve of their World Cup opener against New Zealand in Los Angeles.
Fans, pressed against green wire fencing, chanted "Team Melli" — Persian for "national team" — as the players emerged from the hotel and walked towards the waiting bus.
Staff in red Iran shirts had distributed
small Iranian flags through the fencing to the assembled crowds, and they waved them furiously when the team emerged.
Many of the players, dressed smartly in navy blue polo shirts and beige trousers, waved and smiled at those who had gathered while some members of the delegation took video of the scene with their phones.
One supporter held a yellow sign with black lettering reading "Iran, you will never walk alone. Mexico stands with you."
A young boy perched on someone's shoulders clutched the official Panini FIFA World Cup 2026 sticker album, open to the Iran squad page.
At one point, the crowd sang in Spanish, "Iran, brother, you are Mexican now."
Iranian soccer federation President Mehdi Taj stood outside the hotel as the players left with many of the supporters following the bus down the street as it drove away.
The Iranian community in Tijuana is tiny - around 20 people - and much smaller than that of Los Angeles, which is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran.
Tens of thousands of Iranian-Americans live in LA, where a distinct diaspora often referred to as "Tehrangeles" has taken root.
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).
Members of the Iranian-American community have planned to gather near Los Angeles Stadium later on Sunday to protest what they called the Iranian government's ongoing human rights abuses.
Iran moved their World Cup base camp from a sports complex in Arizona to Mexico late last month after the U.S. and Israel conducted joint strikes on Iran beginning in late February.
This is the first World Cup since its inception in 1930 in which a host nation is set to receive a country it is at war with.
Monday's Group G fixture against New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium will be played against the backdrop of the U.S. war with Iran, adding a charged atmosphere to a contest between two nations that have never met at the World Cup.
(Reporting by Herbert Villarraga; Writing by Frank Pingue in Toronto, Ossian Shine in New York, Editing by Ken Ferris)
