Skip to main content
Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Food Scene: Chattanooga prepares to host the Spanish national team

Staff photo by Lyric Lewin / Bill Heckler, culinary managing director at Square One Holdings, meets with Executive Chef Jeremy Olson to look over the menu and ingredients list for the Spanish national team at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Chattanooga Downtown on May 28, 2026.
Staff photo by Lyric Lewin / Bill Heckler, culinary managing director at Square One Holdings, meets with Executive Chef Jeremy Olson to look over the menu and ingredients list for the Spanish national team at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Chattanooga Downtown on May 28, 2026.

By Lyric Lewin 5 min read

What does it take to prepare a small Appalachian city to host one of the best teams in the world? For starters, a locked-down hotel and over 400 pounds of Iberico ham.

WORLD CUP

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is coming to the U.S., Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19. This is the first time that 48 national teams will compete in a World Cup finals. Since 2002, 32 teams have competed, which was an increase from the 13 teams that kicked off the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.

And while the beautiful game is referred to as soccer in America, the rest of the world knows it as football.

The Spanish national football team, nicknamed La Roja, is one of the best teams in the world. The team won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the women’s team won in 2023 in Australia, making Spain one of only two nations in the world to have won both the men’s and women’s World Cup.