Finding a home shouldn’t take three years. Unless you’re trying to house an entire national soccer team preparing for the biggest tournament on the planet, in which case three years sounds about right.
The US Men’s National Team has officially selected the Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine, California, as its Team Base Camp for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The decision caps a search that spanned 27 venues along the West Coast and was shaped in its final stages by head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who pushed for a late change to ensure the site met his specific requirements for training and logistics.
From Marine base to World Cup base
The Great Park Sports Complex sits on what used to be a Marine Corps air station. Now it features over 24 soccer fields and a dedicated stadium.
The original plan had the USMNT setting up at UC Irvine. That changed when Pochettino, who was appointed as head coach in late 2024, evaluated the options and steered the operation toward the Great Park instead. UC Irvine is a fine university campus, but the Great Park offers purpose-built soccer infrastructure at a scale that few training facilities in the country can match.
