Iran's footballers will be allowed to stay overnight in the United States during the World Cup after all, the Iranian federation confirmed to dpa on the day of their opening match against New Zealand on Monday.
It was originally planned that the team would travel to the US only on matchdays and return straight after the game to the team base in Tijuana, Mexico.
But the whole squad flew to Los Angeles the day before the game for pre-match duties and will now be staying overnight in the US when it suits. All three of their group games are in the US, which has been at war with Iran. A deal to end the war may have helped, observers say.
Their initial trip to the US was not without problems though. Iran arrived late for the pre-match news conference and striker Mehdi Taremi said they had left their base five hours before the short flight eventually took off.
There was huge uncertainty over whether Iran would even compete at the World Cup given the conflict with the US. They moved their World Cup camp from Arizona to Mexico before agreeing to come.
Iran could possibly face the US in the last 32.
