David Beckham is a dollar billionaire. Forbes just put him on their cover. His club, Inter Miami, is the most valuable franchise in MLS at $1.45 billion. And while England run their World Cup preparations in Florida — his Florida — he is posting Instagram updates about his chickens from the Cotswolds.
It's a strange picture. England are in Miami's backyard but training at a tennis and pickleball centre in Palm Beach Gardens. Their first warm-up was played at an American football ground in Tampa — over 200 miles away — on a "plug and play" pitch laid just a week before the game, its joins still visible in the turf. Thomas Tuchel called it "very uneven" and said it made quick passing nearly impossible. It was also, entirely, unnecessary.
Scotland got what England should have had
Here's the kicker: Scotland are using Inter Miami's Fort Lauderdale training complex. Coach Steve Clarke described the facilities as "top-class" and thanked Beckham directly — "an old adversary of mine" — for making them available. Marcus Rashford even used the same facility before England's main group arrived, working with a private coach there ahead of the tournament.
Then the squad landed, and went somewhere else entirely.
FA sources have told The Telegraph that the original plan did include a game in Miami. Reports as recently as February had one of England's warm-ups pencilled in for the new Nu Stadium — Inter Miami's 26,500-capacity ground that opened in April and already hosted a sold-out international last Friday. A deal, apparently, could not be agreed. Financial considerations are cited. England also reportedly switched their hotel base from Fort Lauderdale once it became clear the Inter Miami arrangement wasn't happening.
Beckham's 26 per cent stake in Inter Miami is worth around $300 million. He has publicly spoken about wanting young players to see their heroes in Miami's stadiums, about inspiring a new generation. He has tipped England to win the World Cup. He was present at England's base in Qatar in 2022, photographed handing out personalised shirts. In Miami — where seven World Cup matches will be held and where his name is on the building — he is absent.
The cost of a bad pitch
The Tampa game wasn't just logistically awkward, it was a visible embarrassment. England flew in and out on the same day to play on a surface that undermined their performance in a match they needed to build momentum from. Whether the pitch directly caused the underwhelming result is debatable — but it gave everyone an easy excuse, and excuses before a World Cup are the last thing a new manager needs.
Wednesday's friendly against Costa Rica at Orlando's Inter&Co Stadium at least gets them onto Bermuda grass — the same surface used at World Cup venues, the same grass at Inter Miami's own stadium. The venue they're not using.
Maybe the logistics genuinely didn't align. Maybe Tuchel wanted to keep the camp low-key and Beckham's presence would have turned it into a circus. Both are reasonable explanations. But England have ended up with a worse pitch, a longer commute, and a missed opportunity to use facilities that were, by all accounts, already available — because Scotland and Rashford used them.
Beckham will get his Hollywood Walk of Fame star on June 12. England will be deep into the tournament by then. Whether the two stories intersect at all before a ball is kicked competitively remains the question nobody at the FA seems eager to answer.
