Iran's World Cup squad left Turkey for Mexico on Saturday, taking off under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row between Tehran and Washington after the US refused to issue visas for some of the team's support squad. 

The dispute erupted just days before the June 11 start of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The team took off around 6:10 pm (1520 GMT) for Tijuana in northwest Mexico, where they will be based for the duration of the tournament, on what was expected to be a 20-hour flight, Iranian state TV reported.

The team "took off this evening for Mexico to participate in the World Cup after" training in Turkey, it said.

Team Melli had spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using their time in Turkey to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada and the United States. 

On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, Washington's envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack said on X late Friday. 

But Iran's embassy to Turkey said a "large" number of managerial and executive staff and others had been denied visas, prompting a furious response. 

"You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level," the embassy wrote on X on Saturday. 

"FIFA must hold the US accountable for violations of its rules and for the discriminatory treatment of Iran's national football team."

Iranian state TV said the players and their technical staff had received visas, but 15 others on the administrative and management side had not. It said the matter would be followed up in Mexico.

Iran's Football Federation, whose chief Mehdi Taj was reportedly among those denied a visa, also hit out, describing the decision as "political interference in sport in its worst form".

"By extending its hostile behaviour towards the Iranian nation into the field of sport, the... US government has deprived Iran's national team of... the opportunity to compete without discrimination," it said, pledging to pursue the matter with FIFA.

- 'Abuse this system' -

In response, a US administration official confirmed that "the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued". 

Without directly addressing the matter of those whose visas were refused, the official added: "We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences."

In April, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any problem would not be with the Iranian players but "some of the other people (they) would want to bring with them", suggesting they may have ties to the Revolutionary Guards, a group on the US terror blacklist. 

Taj himself is a former Guards member, Iranian media in the diaspora have said. 

Tensions over the Middle East war have complicated the US visa issue for Iran's Team Melli, who shifted their World Cup base from Tucson in the US state of Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana. 

The war began after the US and Israel began bombing Iran on February 28. An April 8 ceasefire, which largely halted the fighting, has come under strain from recent exchanges of fire by the US and Iran. 

Team Melli will be based in Tijuana for the duration of the tournament, but all three of their group stage matches are due to be held in the United States.

Iran, who are in Group G, will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21, followed by a game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

Ahead of their departure, Iran played a final friendly against Mali in Antalya on Thursday, which they won 2-0. They played a first match on May 29, beating Gambia 3-1.

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World Cup co-hosts Canada were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw with Ireland on Friday despite dominating their final warm-up friendly before the tournament kicks off next week.

Canada have never won a World Cup game but have shot up the FIFA rankings in recent years and, with home advantage and stars like Alphonso Davies, will be looking to make a real impact this year.

But despite controlling the game in Montreal, and the gift of a first-half Ireland own goal, the Canadians could not secure the win.

They conceded an equalizer on the hour mark to Chiedozie Ogbene, who pounced on the rebound from Troy Parrott's well-saved penalty.

Playing against an Irish team that will not feature at the World Cup, it was a disappointing result for Canada, especially after a promising 2-0 win over Uzbekistan earlier this week.

"Obviously, we wish we could have gotten more goals and gotten the win, but I think the energy from the start, the way to go after the game, the ideas in the game, (were) really good," said Canada coach Jesse Marsch.

"We let one counter really get away from us in the second half but, look, overall it is a good performance. 

"Goals make a difference, and so do mistakes, so we've just got to clean some things up."

Canada had utterly dominated the first half, creating a flurry of chances before Stephen Eustaquio's corner deflected off two Ireland players -- Parrott and then Jake O'Brien -- and into the net.

Liam Millar had a shot well-blocked by O'Brien, Ismael Kone's effort was deflected wide, and Juventus striker Jonathan David had a penalty claim ignored.

But Ireland's goal against the run of play, along with a string of substitutions, took the wind out of Canada's sails.

Ireland's Tottenham Hotspur teenager Mason Melia was barely denied an unlikely winner off the bench late on.

Canada has been drawn in Group B alongside Bosnia-Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland. Though the Swiss are favored to top the group, it has been seen as a kind draw for Canada, who automatically qualified as co-hosts.

Canada's campaign begins against Bosnia in Toronto on June 12, before shifting to Vancouver for clashes with Qatar and Switzerland.

In two previous appearances at the World Cup -- the 1986 finals in Mexico and the 2022 tournament in Qatar -- Canada have a perfect record of six defeats in six matches.

But the Canadians surprised many by reaching the semi-finals of the Copa America in 2024, where they only narrowly lost on penalties to Uruguay in the third-place playoff.

Marsch has described his roster as "our best group of 26 players that this country has ever assembled at any one time."

But Bayern Munich defender and Canada talisman Davies has a hamstring injury and did not feature on Friday.

He faces a race to get back to fitness, and is not expected to start the opener against Bosnia.

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Coach Thomas Tuchel on Friday said World Cup hopefuls England will not use scorching heat and vast travel distances between venues as excuses as they target a "long" tournament campaign.

England face New Zealand in a pre-tournament friendly in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Saturday, and have been preparing with training sessions in hot and humid West Palm Beach.

"We don't want it to be an excuse. It will be tough. It will be hopefully a long World Cup," Tuchel told a press conference.

"It will be a lot of travelling, it will be a lot of adversity from the heat, from humidity." 

Tuchel admitted he was "a little bit worried and concerned" by photographs of the recently relaid Tampa Bay grass pitch for Saturday's friendly, but said poor conditions would likely not affect his team selection.

England plan to make 11 substitutions at half-time, he confirmed.

"Let's decide when we are there. If there are any issues we can always react to it," said Tuchel.

Hoping to end 60 years of hurt, England enter the tournament -- co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada -- among a group of favorites led by the likes of France, Spain and defending champions Argentina.

Following their New Zealand tune-up, and a friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, England will head to their training camp in Kansas City, where temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees F) and thunderstorms are forecast in the coming days.

The Three Lions will kick off their tournament on June 17 against Croatia in Dallas, where the mercury is set to hit 35 degrees C (95F) next week.

If England progress beyond their group, they could face a testing trip to Mexico City for a high-altitude last-16 clash, with Miami a possible quarter-final venue too. 

"That's also the task for us, and that's also what you want to achieve -- that atmosphere where you stay calm, where we stay patient, and where we adapt to the circumstances," said Tuchel.

"That's just what it takes to go through the tournament."

And despite the heat expected during the tournament, the manager made it clear that he would not abandon his hard-pressing tactical systems.

"There's a value in recovering the ball high, even if it brings risk, even if it is highly intense," said Tuchel.

- 'Performed in finals' -

England, who reached the final of the past two European Championships, are in Group L, which also contains Ghana, Panama and Croatia.

An experienced Croatia beat a young England side in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

This time, Tuchel said he was delighted by the amount of tournament-winning experience in his squad, which contains around a dozen players who won a trophy this year.

"We're very, very happy that we have a lot of winners... it just lets your confidence grow in a genuine way, so it's not artificial," said Tuchel.

"Players know that they can handle the pressure. Players know that they performed in finals."

The manager said he had a "clear idea of 14-15 starters that can start for us and should start for us and can carry this team" against Croatia.

Ezri Konsa is fighting for a starting role at center-back, along with the likes of Marc Guehi and John Stones.

Speaking before Tuchel at Friday's press conference, Konsa admitted that "most of our players are not used to playing in this kind of heat."

"But we've got to get used to it very quickly."

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FIFA has banned fans from bringing refillable water bottles into World Cup venues in a last-minute policy change that will force thirsty supporters to pay for bottled water, The Athletic reported on Wednesday.

As recently as last month, FIFA's official stadium code of conduct included a clause which read: "For the avoidance of doubt, empty, transparent, reusable plastic bottles, up to (1 liter in) capacity, may be brought into the Stadium."

However The Athletic reported on Wednesday that those guidelines had now been tweaked to explicitly ban refillable bottles.

"For the avoidance of doubt, reusable water bottles may not be brought into the stadium," an updated stadium code of conduct read.

In a statement to AFP, a FIFA spokesperson said the rule change was taken on safety grounds, noting that several World Cup venues already barred the use of refillable water bottles.

"FIFA is committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers, and staff," the statement read.

"FIFA made the decision to prohibit bottles to prevent risk and injury to players and attendees.

"Outside bottles are already prohibited at several of these venues for safety considerations, and FIFA is applying this consideration across its tournament stadiums."

The statement added that misting stations, fans, hydration stations and cooling tents would be available in "the stadium footprint".

It added that bottled water inside the venue would be sold at prices which "remain consistent with other events held at each stadium."

The rule change comes despite experts warning fans could face health risks from extreme heat at open-air venues during the World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A report published by the World Weather Attribution research group last month estimated that 26 of 104 games at the World Cup are likely to be played in conditions where the Wet Bulb Global Temperature (WBGT) exceeds 26 degrees. 

WBGT is a measure of heat stress on the human body which combines temperature, humidity, wind and sunlight.

At last year's FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, where fans complained of searing temperatures, supporters were also barred from bringing water bottles into venues.

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