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Kansas City, KS – With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just three months away, cities across the United States are racing to complete training facilities that national teams will call home during the global tournament.
Among them is Kansas City, which will serve as the base camp for defending champion Argentina’s national soccer team, a major win for the region as it prepares to welcome both players and tens of thousands of international fans.
Base camps are essential to World Cup operations. They serve as home headquarters where the teams live, train and recover while traveling between match venues throughout the competition.
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The World Cup 2026 signage is displayed in Kansas City, one of the tournament’s host cities. (Olivianna Calmes)
“From private training pitches to games rooms, these facilities are designed to support some of the biggest names in football,” said Alan Dietrich, who has worked closely with the organisers.
Local leaders have spent more than a year pitching their cities to international teams, hoping to showcase not just athletic facilities but the wider community.
“We actually started over a year ago with countries starting to visit,” Dietrich said.
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Tourism officials say the opportunity extends far beyond the sport itself. Hosting a base camp allows cities to present themselves to a global audience and build long-term international relationships.
To show support for Kansas City’s bid for the men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup, the KC2026 Bid Committee and Outfront media installed a 90 x 90 foot banner on Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“We knew the World Cup would be kind of our first chance and probably our biggest chance to engage these international markets,” said Devin Aaron of Visit KC.
A locker room displays the “We are FIFA 2026 Kansas City” sign at the Sporting KC training facility (Olivianna Calmes)
Early expectations had Argentina based in Miami, but Kansas City eventually stood out during the selection process.
“When Argentina visited, they really loved it here,” Dietrich said. “They loved our facilities, they loved our people.”
The team will train at Sporting Kansas City’s Compass Minerals National Performance Center, a state-of-the-art facility in Kansas City, Kansas that will serve as Argentina’s home training base during the tournament.
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The complex offers multiple disciplines and elite-level training facilities designed for international competition.
Inside, players will have access to private dining areas, meeting rooms and dedicated recovery rooms designed to help them rest between matches.
A rest room for WC players (Olivianna Calmes)
“If they’ve traveled a lot and they’re tired, they can come in here, turn off the lights and have a good nap,” Dietrich added.
Up to 100,000 Argentina fans are expected to travel to Kansas City for the tournament, a preview of the global crowds that will flood World Cup host cities across the United States
Across the United States, cities selected as host sites and base camps are preparing for similar increases as teams finalize training sites and fans follow their national teams.
Cities throughout the United States that are hosting World Cup games (Pakinomist)
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The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in history, expanding from 32 to 48 teams and spanning host cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with each location competing for global visibility and long-term economic impact.
