Chattanooga — and more specifically, Baylor School — is listed in the first edition of FIFA’s team base camp brochure for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The brochure put out by soccer’s international governing body lists locations where the 48 national men’s teams that qualify for the monthlong tournament could opt to make their home away from home, a hub from where they will travel to their first three World Cup matches, and where players, staff and officials would spend the majority of their team during the group stage when not competing.
There are currently 24 locations listed, including Chattanooga, with some cities having multiple locations listed as base camp options. The list will grow over the next 18 months to provide additional options in the three North American countries hosting the quadrennial event, which will take place from June 11 to July 19 in 2026.
If Chattanooga is chosen as a site, players would practice at Baylor and stay downtown at the historic Read House hotel, according to a FIFA news release issued Wednesday.
“Baylor School has always had a global focus and we are honored and thrilled to be considered as a training site for such a prestigious global sporting event,” Chris Angel, Baylor’s headmaster, said in a news release from the city. “We are excited to partner with the City of Chattanooga to showcase our hospitality and we look forward to the possibility of welcoming a FIFA 26 team to our campus.”
Staff file photo by Matt Hamilton / The Read House in downtown Chattanooga could be the home away from home for some soccer players taking part in the 2026 World Cup.In the brochure, teams are provided with multiple options to consider for their final selection, which they will submit once the final draw is released for the World Cup in late 2025. It will reveal the exact geographical areas where teams will be playing the matches in their four-team groups, which will help teams determine where they want to make their base camp.
Nine additional cities — including Chattanooga — outside of the host cities are included in the brochure: Cincinnati; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Irvine, California; Louisville, Kentucky; St. Louis; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; and Westfield, Indiana are the others.
“Even if a city is not staging matches, a participating team coming to stay creates a strong personal bond with the competition for people locally,” Heimo Schirgi, chief operating officer of the World Cup, said in a FIFA release. “It will see them adopt their guests as a second team during the tournament, thereby connecting even more people to the FIFA World Cup.”
Chattanooga is not new to world-class soccer teams. In 2015, the U.S. women’s national team played an exhibition match in front of 20,535 at Finley Stadium, defeating Costa Rica 7-2 as part of the Americans’ “Victory Tour” after winning the Women’s World Cup in Canada that year.
“This is a very exciting day for Chattanooga,” Mayor Tim Kelly said in the city’s release. “It’s an honor to be a candidate for a World Cup Team Base Camp, among the select company of just a few other great North American cities. This announcement comes as a result of hard work with our partners at Baylor School and the Chattanooga Tourism Company, and is proof that Chattanooga is recognized on the world stage as a great soccer city. We can do great things in Chattanooga when we come together, and this is just the latest example in our long history of successful partnerships.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.