A rotting body has been found in a car parked near Iran’s World Cup training base in Mexico.
Police in Tijuana made the horrifying discovery on Friday after reports of a nasty smell coming from the car, parked at a supermarket across from the Iran team’s camp.
The body was wrapped in a black bag and the car, a gray Toyota SUV with a California license had been abandoned.
It was parked meters away from the Caliente Stadium, where Iran is preparing for the team’s first World Cup game on Monday against New Zealand.
‘Upon inspecting the vehicle, they found a person wrapped in a black bag in the trunk, showing signs of violence,’ a statement from Mexican authorities said.
Specialists in white protective suits worked around the vehicle to examine the corpse before removing it.
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 discovery comes amid the World Cup getting underway on Thursday in Mexico City, while there has been extra scrutiny surrounding the Iran team due to the war with the United States.
Iran has been told it can only fly into the United States on the day of their games in California and have also been ordered to leave on the same day.
They had initially planned to be based in Arizona but the hostilities with the United States meant they moved to fellow co-host Mexico.
