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The Football Association has sent scouts to the America this week to look at potential facilities for the forthcoming tournament, amidst growing apprehensions that their first-choice location could be allocated by the Holland.

Draw Complexities Alter Plans

Head coach Thomas Tuchel had earlier cleared an FA proposal for England to locate in Kansas after a pre-tournament training period in Fort Lauderdale. However, following the recent tournament draw, there are now fears that the Netherlands, who play their group games in Kansas, will be given first choice on the desired facility at Sporting Kansas City—a high-performance centre operated by US Soccer.

FIFA assigns training bases based on geography and world rankings if there is a dispute, with the draw potentially placing the FA in competition with the Netherlands and Argentina for sites in the tournament's south-central region.

Considering Alternative Sites

Given England's group stage matches scheduled to take place in Dallas, Boston, and New Jersey, the FA is now reportedly looking at other locations on the east coast. The FA began its scouting process for training bases at the start of the year, with Tuchel and director of football John McDermott touring possible locations during the Club World Cup last summer.

In spite of this early preparation, there was always an acceptance that the final tournament draw could drastically change their logistical arrangements.

Knockout Stage Travel Plans

England face the eighth most demanding group stage schedule in terms of travel. Winning Group L would set England on course for a last-32 game in Atlanta, then a potential last-16 tie in Mexico City.

• Significant Departure: The FA may decide to travel from match to match for the later rounds should England qualify, a significant departure from its usual protocol of maintaining a fixed tournament base.
• FIFA Encouragement: FIFA is believed to be recommending such a itinerant approach for the vast 2026 tournament.

After the training base is confirmed, the FA will turn its attention to organizing two warm-up matches in Florida at the start of June.