2026 FIFA World Cup: Infantino offers a solution to make travelling easier for the competing teams during the tournament
According to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, teams participating in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico will be grouped together in nearby locations during the initial stages of the tournament to make travel easier.
Infantino made this announcement while revealing the official logo and branding for the event in Los Angeles, citing the large size of the 2026 finals as the reason for the decision.
The upcoming World Cup will have 48 teams participating, which is an increase from the previous 32 teams. Additionally, it will be the first time that three countries will co-host the event.
“The challenges will be the whole logistics around it,” Infantino said. “It’s a continent – three countries and not three small countries either – three big countries.
“The distances, the time zones, the climatic differences too – altitude in Mexico, sea level in other parts.
“So for us it’s important to create the right environment for the teams and the fans to be put in the best possible conditions.
“Meaning not having to travel too much, especially at the beginning. So we will create some clusters where teams will be based depending on the draw and then they will play their games in that particular cluster.”
During a meeting in Doha last week, the 32 coaches who participated in the previous year’s World Cup discussed the possibility of basing teams in regions and traveling, according to Infantino.
“This was one of the advantages of the World Cup in Qatar, where a player, one hour after the game, was in his bed,” he said.
“(In 2026) there will be some travel involved but we will coordinate that and make sure that it will be the best possible conditions for the teams.”
Infantino is optimistic that the tournament will enhance the achievements of the 1994 finals in the United States, which played a significant role in establishing Major League Soccer in North America.
Asked what he wanted the legacy of 2026 to be, Infantino replied: “That soccer will be the number one sport in North America.”
During a gala event at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, FIFA introduced the official branding for the 2026 tournament and welcomed celebrities and former players. FIFA President Infantino spoke about the importance of regional team placement, a sentiment supported by former US international Alexi Lalas, who was in attendance.
“At the risk of ‘grumpy old-manning it’, it’s not like these guys are sitting in the middle seat in economy on a budget airline or anything,” Lalas told AFP. “They’re on charter aircraft all over the place.
“But having said that, we’re obviously talking about six-hour trips, time-zone changes. For a lot of players around the world that fundamentally changes the competition, so a regional type of situation makes sense.”
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