The FIFA 2026 World Cup is now just weeks away, and teams from around the world have finalized where they will be spending their spare time training in between matches.
Each national team will have a “base camp,” or soccer training facility where they can hone their skills between matches and hope to beef up their game to keep going in the month-long tournament.
The U.S. Men’s National Team announced their base at the Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine, California, but dozens of other teams will be spread out across the United States.
Eight matches of the World Cup will take place in Atlanta, one of the busiest host cities during the tournament, and the city’s home MLS team, Atlanta United, will play host to a country in its very first World Cup appearance.
“The world-class training facilities each team has selected will become their ‘home away from home,’ and serve as the location where their players, coaches and staff will spend a significant portion of their time throughout the group stage,” FIFA said Monday.
The Uzbekistan national team will use the Atlanta United training center in Marietta for their base camp, FIFA announced earlier this week.
This year marks the first ever appearance of the Uzbekistan national team at the World Cup, and it was a journey to get here.
Uzbekistan has almost qualified for the tournament seven times, coming closest in 2006 and 2014. But, it wasn’t until its win against the United Arab Emirates in 2025 that their road to the World Cup was secured.
A generation of soccer talent was wiped out in 1979 when the first-team squad of the FC Pakhtakor Tashkent, the top soccer club at the time, was killed in a mid-air plane collision over Ukraine on its way to play in Belarus. The country has spent the decades since rebuilding its love for the sport and place on the international stage.
The team was led to victory in Abu Dhabi by Timur Kapdze, a former national player turned coach, but he stepped back to an assistant coach role in October 2025. Instead, Fabio Cannavaro has taken the helm going into the World Cup.
Cannavaro was considered one of the best defensive players of his era, and he made three World Cup appearances with Italy, even winning the tournament in 2006. Now, the country is hoping to be led through the tournament with his expertise.
“The World Cup will be a tournament where we must learn. Then, six months later, we have the Asian Cup, and there we will understand where we can get. I don’t want to overlook the work done so far: they brought the team to the World Cup. I want to improve what they’ve done with a slightly more European football culture,” Cannavaro said in an interview with The Guardian in December. “Could Uzbekistan be a surprise at the World Cup? I hope so, but it must come through work, sacrifice, knowledge and certainty. Surprises don’t just happen.”
The Uzbekistan team will utilize Atlanta United’s $25 million facility expansion that opened in September, and are expected to cause “minimal disruption” to the United team as is prepares for the second half of the MLS season at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground.
The White Wolves will arrive in Atlanta June 10 and play their first match on June 17 in Mexico City against Colombia. The team will play back in Atlanta on June 27 against DR Congo.
The facility includes 33-acres and more than 500,000-square feet of playing space across six regulation fields, two gyms, five locker rooms and content studios.
More than $90 million has been invested in the Marietta campus, and Atlanta United will be training for the second half of its season while Uzbekistan uses the facility.
“Our goal has always been to build a world-class training ground that can support the highest levels of the game,” Dimitrious Efstathiou, Atlanta United SVP of Strategy, said in a May 20 statement from the organization. “Welcoming Uzbekistan for the FIFA World Cup is a strong validation of that vision. Our continued investment has created an environment capable of meeting the demands of the world’s top teams, and we’re proud to have the opportunity to showcase this facility on a global stage.”
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta Stadium) will host five group stage matches, a round of 32 match, a round of 16 match and one of the tournament’s semifinal match.
Irene Wright covers the FIFA World Cup as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
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