FIFA has dropped the full list of team base camps for the 2026 World Cup, and the geography tells its own story. Thirty-nine teams will be based across the United States, seven in Mexico, and two in Canada — a layout that reflects both the tournament's tri-nation structure and some genuine geopolitical scrambling behind the scenes.
The headline case: Iran will be based in Tijuana, Mexico, after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed her country would accommodate the Iranians specifically to sidestep US visa restrictions. It's a rare moment where international politics directly reshapes a World Cup logistics map, and it won't be the last complication this tournament faces.
The Kansas City cluster
Defending champions Argentina will operate out of the Sporting KC Training Centre in Kansas City. They'll have company — Algeria, England, and the Netherlands are all based in the same city. Four teams in one metropolitan area, including the holders and a resurgent England side. That's either brilliant logistical efficiency or a coordination headache waiting to happen, depending how the group stages shake out.
England are at Swope Soccer Village. The Netherlands at the KC Current Training Facility. It's a stacked neighborhood.
Brazil land in the New York-New Jersey region at Columbia Park Training Facility. France head to Bentley University in Boston. Germany are at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. Spain — perhaps the most interesting placement — are in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the Baylor School. These aren't glamour locations, but base camps rarely are. What matters is training quality and recovery infrastructure, not the postcode.
Full list of team base camps
- Algeria: Kansas City (University of Kansas)
- Argentina: Kansas City (Sporting KC Training Centre)
- Australia: San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland Roots/Soul facility)
- Austria: Goleta, CA (UC Santa Barbara)
- Belgium: Renton, WA (Seattle Sounders performance centre)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sandy, UT (RSL Stadium)
- Brazil: New York-New Jersey (Columbia Park Training Facility)
- Canada: Vancouver (National Soccer Development Centre)
- Cabo Verde: Tampa, FL (Waters Sportsplex)
- Colombia: Guadalajara, MX (Academia Atlas FC)
- Congo DR: Houston (Houston Training Centre)
- Cote d'Ivoire: Philadelphia (Philadelphia Union)
- Croatia: Alexandria (Episcopal High School)
- Curaçao: Boca Raton, FL (Florida Atlantic University)
- Czechia: Dallas (Mansfield Multipurpose Stadium)
- Ecuador: Columbus, OH (Columbus Crew Performance Centre)
- Egypt: Spokane, WA (Gonzaga University)
- England: Kansas City (Swope Soccer Village)
- France: Boston (Bentley University)
- Germany: Winston-Salem, NC (Wake Forest University)
- Ghana: Boston (Bryant University)
- Haiti: New York-New Jersey (Stockton University)
- Iran: Tijuana, MX (Centro Xoloitzcuintle)
- Iraq: Greenbrier, WV (Greenbrier Sports Performance Centre)
- Japan: Nashville, TN (Nashville SC facility)
- Jordan: Portland (University of Portland)
- Mexico: Mexico City (Centro de Alto Rendimiento)
- Morocco: New York-New Jersey (Pingry School)
- Netherlands: Kansas City (KC Current Training Facility)
- New Zealand: San Diego (University of San Diego - Torero Stadium)
- Norway: Greensboro, NC (UNC Greensboro)
- Panama: New Tecumseth, CAN (Nottawasaga Training Site)
- Paraguay: San Francisco Bay Area (Spartan Soccer Complex)
- Portugal: Palm Beach Gardens (Gardens North County District Park)
- Qatar: Santa Barbara, CA (Westmont College)
- Saudi Arabia: Austin, TX (Austin FC Stadium)
- Scotland: Charlotte, NC (Charlotte FC facility)
- Senegal: New York-New Jersey (Rutgers University)
- South Africa: Pachuca, MX (Pachuca - Universidad Del Futbol)
- South Korea: Guadalajara, MX (Chivas Verde Valle)
- Spain: Chattanooga, TN (Baylor School)
- Sweden: Dallas (FC Dallas Stadium)
- Switzerland: San Diego (SDJA)
- Tunisia: Monterrey, MX (Rayados Training Centre)
- Turkiye: Mesa, AZ (Arizona Athletic Grounds)
- United States: Irvine (Great Park Sports Complex)
- Uruguay: Cancun, MX (Mayakoba Training Centre Cancun)
- Uzbekistan: Atlanta (Atlanta United Training Centre)
The United States, hosting on home soil, will be based in Irvine at the Great Park Sports Complex — about as Californian a setting as you could imagine. Their odds to go deep in this tournament have been slowly drifting in with every piece of preparation news, and a stable, purpose-built home base helps.
"Team Base Camps are where teams put down roots, train and recuperate, and experience the day-to-day rhythms of the tournament," said 2026 FIFA World Cup chief operating officer Heimo Schirgi. That's a polished way of saying: get this wrong and you're already at a disadvantage before the first whistle.
