Salt Lake City Selected As Team Base Camp Candidate For 2026 World Cup
Jun 12, 2024, 12:50 PM | Updated: 4:16 pm
AL RAYYAN, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: A model FIFA World Cup trophy is seen prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group D match between Tunisia and France at Education City Stadium on November 30, 2022 in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake City could get in on the 2026 World Cup fun as a Team Base Camp Candidate City.
Both the University of Utah and the Real Salt Lake Training Center are among the 20 Team Base Camp candidates in the United States.
An exciting FIFA World Cup 26™ update! 🤩
FIFA has released the first edition of the online Team Base Camp brochure, comprising a list of locations where the 48 participating teams can establish their ‘home away from home’:
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) June 12, 2024
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association released the first edition of the online Team Base Camp brochure on Wednesday.
A countries Team Base Camp is where they will spend the majority of their time during the group stage of the 2026 World Cup. They will travel to their first three matches from their designated camp.
Leading up to the competition, FIFA will add more Team Base Camp candidates and reveal the geographic zones in which teams will play their group matches to help countries make a decision that best suits their team.
The updated FIFA World Cup 26™ match schedule is here! 🗓️
The new version is particularly significant for the host nations Canada, Mexico and the United States, who can now clearly see their match routes should they finish first or second in their respective groups pic.twitter.com/0A7xa5POD1
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) June 12, 2024
Four U.S. cities were selected as both a host to games and a Team Base Camp candidate. Those cities are Dallas, Kansas City, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.
Salt Lake City and eight other U.S. cities will not host any games but are candidates for a Team Base Camp.
If a country selects the University of Utah as its Base Camp, they will stay at the Hyatt Regency hotel. If they opt for the RSL training center, they will stay at the RSL Training Academy Residence.
About The 2026 World Cup
The 23rd FIFA World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026, in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Ready to make @FIFAWorldCup history! 🤩
It’s the first time ever that the FIFA World Cup is heading to Canada, while it’s familiar territory for the United States and Mexico!
The FIFA World Cup 26 ™ will be the most inclusive ever, with a record 48 participating teams. pic.twitter.com/jqXnHWzcs3
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) June 11, 2024
The North American bid was unveiled in April 2017 and selected over Morocco by the FIFA Congress in June 2018.
The 2026 tournament will be the first World Cup hosted by three countries. It will also feature 48 teams instead of 32 for the first time ever.
The group stage will see 12 groups of 4 teams. The top 2 from each group as well as the eight best third-placed teams will move on to the round of 32.
With the expanded format, there will be a total of 104 games played compared to the 64 from previous iterations.
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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.
