USMNT announce training base for 2026 World Cup: Look inside Great Park Irvine
With three months to go until the tournament, the US has named Irvine, California as the team’s base camp.
For soccer fans, there are a few key staging posts during the build-up to a World Cup. There is the World Cup draw, when teams discover their group stage opponents. There is the unveiling of the World Cup jerseys, when the tournament’s visual style begins to reveal itself. And there is the announcement of World Cup training camps, when fans learn where their national team will be housed for up to six high-pressure weeks.
Most teams have long since confirmed their homes for the 2026 World Cup but the United States waited until this week to make their decision public. We now know that USMNT will be based at the Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine, California.
The US had been expected to choose Southern California for the base camp, given that two of the three group stage matches will be played in SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The University of California, Irvine had also been tipped as a possible training camp but The Athletic reports that the university was unable to make a deal with FIFA for use of the site. The Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine is part of a large public park that boasts 24 soccer fields and a 5,000-capacity stadium.
USMNT pick “outstanding” World Cup base
The United States have opted for an out-of-town training camp, much like Germany, Spain and Argentina have done for this year’s tournament. USMNT will be staying at an Orange County hotel and travelling to and from the Great park facility.
In a press release confirming the news, U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker described the site as “simply outstanding,” adding that it will “provide the perfect training environment for our team to prepare to be successful at the World Cup.”
If all goes to plan, the team will be able to use the Irvine site for at least the first two weeks of the tournament. The United States will be based on the West Coast for the first three games of the tournament, with group stage games in Los Angeles and Seattle. If USMNT top the group they will progress to play the round-of-32 game in Santa Clara, or will head to Arlington, Texas if they finish second.
Things will be a trickier if they advance as one of eight third-placed teams. Their route through could take them to Foxboro, Massachusetts; East Rutherford, New Jersey; or Kansas City, Missouri in the first knockout round. But whatever their eventual route for the tournament, USMNT appear very satisfied with their base training camp as the team prepares to shoulder the weight of national expectation as tournament hosts.
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