Security concerns rise as body in car found near Iran World Cup training venue in Mexico

TIJUANA (Mexico), June 13 — A rotting body was found in the trunk of a car parked near the stadium where Iran's World Cup football team is training in Mexico, AFP journalists at the scene reported Friday.

The gruesome discovery came with games underway in the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by Mexico, the US and Canada.

Reporters watched as police in Tijuana opened the trunk of the gray Toyota SUV, which had California plates, in the parking lot of a supermarket directly across from the Caliente Stadium, where Team Melli is training as it prepares for three games in the United States.

Specialists in white protective suits worked around the vehicle to examine the corpse before removing it.

The prosecutor's office in Tijuana said the body had been discovered by a patrol unit.

“Upon inspecting the vehicle, they found a person wrapped in a black bag in the trunk, showing signs of violence,” a spokesman said, adding the car was believed to have been abandoned on Wednesday.

Temperatures in the city have reached up to 28° Celsius (82° Fahrenheit) in recent days, with hot sunshine beating down for hours every day.

Mexico is plagued by powerful drug gangs and has one of the world's highest murder rates.

Tijuana, which sits on the border with the United States, is notoriously dangerous, with more than 1,200 homicides recorded there in 2025, according to official statistics.

The Iranian national team, whose participation in Fifa’s football extravaganza had been clouded by war with the United States, had planned to have their training camp in Arizona, but moved to Mexico amid ongoing hostilities.

Since its arrival, the team has been under heavy security and is escorted between the hotel and the stadium by armed soldiers.

On Friday, the convoy left the stadium just minutes after the body had been removed.

There was no immediate response to AFP queries to the team over security arrangements. — AFP