Inside the ‘Missed Opportunity’ for Tucson Hosting Iran’s World Cup Base Camp

Iran’s stay at the 2026 FIFA World Cup ended quietly last week with a 3-3 draw against Egypt in Seattle. Despite the knockout stage expanding to 32 teams for the first time this year, Team Melli was still unable to advance past the group stage for the first time, finishing with 0 wins, 0 losses and 3 draws.

Its stay in the United States is also over, bringing to a close one of the more uncomfortable subplots of this year’s World Cup. Iran played all three of its games in the U.S. at a time the two countries were engaged in military hostilities in the Middle East. It was the most significant geopolitical conflict of the tournament, and it prevented Iran from spending even more time in the U.S. In February, Tucson, Arizona, had been announced as the base camp for Team Melli, but as the situation in the Middle East worsened, Iran elected in late May to move its base camp to Tijuana, Mexico.

For months the Tucson community had been preparing to do everything it could to show Iran that it would be welcomed in the desert. Instead, on the even of the tournament and just as communities across the United States were starting to welcome teams from around the world, Tucson found itself facing a summer without soccer.

The Kino Sports Complex, home of FC Tucson of USL League Two and formerly the spring training home of the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox, was to be the facility for the Iranian team. FC Tucson had even adjusted the location of its games to accommodate the arrival of the international visitors.

Visit Tucson had spent months planning and working closely with the city and county police departments to provide the necessary security, negotiating some discounts and offset funding in order to meet a potentially tricky situation.

Perhaps no aspect of the city felt the absence more than the Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort & Spa. After a series of walkthroughs and site visits, the Iranian contingent decided it would rather book the entire 241-room hotel rather than simply the 52 rooms it would need for its players and staff. At the city average of roughly $150 and for 25 nights, starting June 5 and running through the end of the month, that would have come to around $900,000, a significant amount at any time of year but especially when any hotel in Arizona is lucky to have an occupancy rate north of 40% because the oppressive heat limits visitors to the state.

“We still did alright for ourselves,” said Wyatt Fee, the hotel’s general manager, noting that the property was able to keep bookings around 40%. “But when you lose out on a hotel buyout in the summer you can’t recoup that.”

Had Iran advanced to the knockout stage, its stay at the Wyndham Grand Resort & Spa might have ended just the same, as it may have gone searching for accommodations closer to where it would play each additional match. But on the day after the proposed stay would have ended, here is a look back at what Tucson had planned — and what it missed out on.

Empty-handed

Fee and his staff had been preparing for much of the year to turn the entire facility — 81 acres, including 30,000-square-feet of meeting space, three pools, a spa, tennis and pickleball, a full weight room; “everything except a full-blown golf course,” as Fee put it — over to the Iranian team. He was with his family in Colorado when he got the call less than two weeks before that stay was to begin saying that the Iranians would be canceling, preventing him from being involved with a full hotel buyout in the city for the first time since then-Vice President Dick Cheney came to town two decades ago.

“There was so much going in the world, I don’t want to say we expected but it wasn’t a big surprise,” he said.

Had Iran pulled out of the World Cup altogether — a prospect that had been floated as late as mid-March as tempers flared in the region — FIFA had promised Tucson it would get a different team. But when Iran stayed in the tournament, by the time it decided to relocate, Tucson was left empty-handed.

“We had been making all the preparations, and we had it all lined up to make sure security was provided,” said Nick Pazzi, director of sports for Visit Tucson. “Everybody felt they would be safe there and felt the city would accommodate them. Whenever we questioned FIFA they just kept telling us, ‘No, they’re coming, nothing is changing, they’re still coming.’ We were caught off guard at the last minute when we heard they were going to Mexico.

“We hadn’t even had a chance yet to do anything to drive tourism or business, because right about the time we got the green light it was days later that they told us they weren’t coming.”

Indeed, aside from the Wyndam, this was not expected to be a big revenue driver for the city. Because of security concerns, Iran was not planning to have a public practice or scrimmage, the way other countries were required to do, and instead it was going to be an invitation-only event for coaches from area colleges like the University of Arizona and Pima Community College.

Still, there was a benefit that went beyond simply bringing in money. “I’m personally disappointed,” said Pazzi. “We were prepared to handle it and we were going to pull it off. You never know what will happen in terms of protesters or media coverage, but we were looking forward to making them feel welcome, and we wanted to show them the U.S. is a welcoming country and we were going to do everything we could to make it enjoyable.”

PODCAST: ST editors on the legacy of the 2026 World Cup

Next Chance

Pazzi knows there will be other opportunities for his city to step onto a global stage. Being selected in the first place demonstrated the appeal of his community, and losing the chance to host was not a reflection on Tucson; instead it became a proxy battlefield for a war taking place more than 7,500 miles away.

Much of Tucson has already moved on. “Football starts in two months,” Fee says, echoing a sentiment familiar across America.

But whenever that next opportunity comes to showcase Tucson to the world, Fee will be ready. The Wyndham will be ready, the Kino Sports Complex will be ready, and Visit Tucson will be ready.

Pazzi, however, will be able to observe it from the sidelines, where he won’t have to be involved in the excitement of winning a bid or the disappointment of losing one, won’t have to sweat the scheduling or lament the logistics. He’s retiring in just a couple of weeks and plans to spend time visiting his grandchild in the Bay Area, but he knows what this could have meant for his city, and by extension his country, maybe even a world that relies on sports to show how nations can come together to showcase the best of what each has to offer.

“This,” Pazzi said, “was a missed opportunity for diplomacy.”