‘La Roja’ eclipse France in World Cup travel distance
The first semi-final of the 2026 World Cup pits ‘Les Bleus’ against the current European champions in Dallas on Tuesday.
The Dallas Stadium in Arlington Texas is the setting for the first of the two 2026 World Cup semi finals this week as the highly tipped France team face Luis de la Fuente’s Spain.
‘Les Bleus’ are gunning for their third World Cup title with ‘La Roja’ looking to add to their 2010 win South Africa with the winner of the England-Argentina semi-final clash lying await in Sunday’s final.
Much has been reported on the fact that the Bosnia-Herzegovina side were handed the most arduous journeys in the group stage with the Balkan nation sitting alone at the top of the group stage travel charts, covering 5,057 km (approx. 3,142 miles). Based out of a training camp in Salt Lake City, they had to move from Toronto to Los Angeles and then back up to Seattle, making them the only nation forced to cross the 5,000 km threshold before the group stage even concluded.
Egypt enjoyed the most compact group-stage schedule in the entire tournament, traveling an absolute minimum of just 392 km (approx. 243 miles) between their matches due to a heavily concentrated venue assignment.
France vs Spain travel distances
When it comes to the semi-final clash between France and Spain, Didier Deschamps and his side have endured limited travel times with ‘Les Bleus’ only clocking up 3,091 km (approx. 1,920 miles) whereas Spain have travelled over five times that distance with ’La Roja’ enduring trips totalling 16,594 km (9,751 miles). Their journey to the semi-final has seen two games staged in Atlanta, a cross-border journey to Guadalajara in Mexico and knock-out games in Los Angeles, Dallas, and a return to Los Angeles ahead of the semi-final clash tomorrow in Texas.
However, the Spanish side’s total travel distance is trumped by England. No major nation suffered a more exhausting itinerary than the ‘Three Lions’. By the time they reached the quarterfinals, Thomas Tuchel’s men clocked in an astonishing 12,998 miles/nearly 21,000 km of air travel. Based out of Prairie Village, Kansas, they routinely commuted all over the map, playing in Dallas, Boston, New Jersey, Atlanta, Mexico City, and Miami.
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