For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 48 countries will compete in North America to crown the best men's national team team.
Out of those 48 squads, 39 have set up their home base in the United States, with seven in Mexico and two in Canada.
Three of those FIFA member association teams will have a home base in North Carolina for the World Cup.
Germany, Norway and Scotland will call the Tar Heel State home while participating in the sport's biggest tournament.
Two of the three in the state will be using college campuses as training grounds, while the other will be utilizing a Major League Soccer facility.
No World Cup matches will be played in the state, but teams will reside and train in North Carolina.
With no matches being played in the state, teams will have extensive travel to and from games.
However, the closest World Cup team to have a home base closest to Cherokee County will be staying in Tennessee.
Spain – who prior to the tournament starting had the second best odds to win the World Cup according to DraftKings Sportsbook – has their home base set up in Chattanooga, Tenn., for the duration of the World Cup.
Spain
The 2010 World Cup champions will look to make it to the top again with 18-year-old phenom Lamine Yamal.
The Spanish squad will train during the World Cup at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Baylor School is a private, co-ed high school with a renowned athletics program. The school’s boys and girls soccer teams have won a combined 20 state championships. As a school, they have won almost 300 state titles – the most out of Tennessee schools.
Spain will have a reasonable travel schedule from Chattanooga during the Group Stage of the World Cup.
The squad’s first two Group Stage matches were played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – known as Atlanta Stadium during the World Cup – in Atlanta.
For their third and final Group Stage match, they will travel to Estadio Akron in Guandalajara, Mexico.
Spain is competing in Group H in the 2026 World Cup.
Their first match ended in a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde on June 15. They then defeated Saudi Arabia 4-0 on June 21.
To wrap up the group round, they defeated Uruguay 1-0 on Friday night.
In the Round of 32, they will face Austria at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Germany
The four-time World Cup champions have their home base at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.
The Germans are the only team with a North Carolina home base that have won a World Cup, as well as the only teams staying in the state to make it to the World Cup final match.
Germany will have extensive travel for its three Group Stage matches.
The first match was played in Houston, Tex. They then traveled to Toronto for the second match.
The team’s final Group Stage match will be held in East Rutherford, N.J., at MetLife Stadium – known as New York New Jersey Stadium during the World Cup. That stadium will also hold the World Cup Final on Sunday, July 19.
Their most recent World Cup title came in 2014 when they defeated Argentina in Brazil. The 2014 title was their only World Cup win after the country reunified in 1990.
They won World Cup titles in 1954, 1974 and 1990 as West Germany.
The Germans won their first 2026 World Cup group match in a decisive victory over Curacao 7-1 on June 14.
They then beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on June 20. They secured first place in Group E by defeating Ivory Coast.
They played their final ground round match against Ecuador on Thursday and lost 2-1.
In the Round of 32, Germany faced Paraguay on Monday and lost in penalty kicks. With the loss, Germany was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup.
Norway
The Norway national team has set up shop at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
The Vikings are led by Erling Haaland, who had two goals in his World Cup debut against Iraq in Norway’s 4-1 win on June 16.
The Norwegian squad will also have to catch flights to its matches, with all of them being in the North East United States.
Luckily for them, two of their matches will be played in Foxborough, Mass., at Gillette Stadium – known as Boston Stadium during the World Cup.
The team traveled to East Rutherford, N.J., for its second Group Stage match.
After their opening Group I match against Iraq, they defeated Senegal 3-2 on Monday night.
Norway’s final group round match was against France – the 2018 champions and one of the favorites to win it all in 2026 – on Friday.
They lost France 4-1 and finished the group round in second in Group I.
In the round of 32, Norway faced Ivory Coast on Tuesday afternoon.
Scotland
For the first time since 1998, Scotland qualified for the World Cup and the team chose North Carolina to be its home base.
The team will train in Charlotte at the MLS’ Charlotte FC Training Center.
They will use the Atrium Health Performance Park in East Charlotte to train and prepare for their first World Cup appearance in 28 years.
The facility opened in August of 2023, just a year after Charlotte FC began play in the MLS.
Charlotte FC defender Tim Ream will be playing for the U.S. national team during this year’s World Cup.
Scotland is the only team with a home base in North Carolina not training at a university.
Like Spain and Norway, Scotland will play two of its three Group Stage matches at the same stadium.
The team’s first two matches will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
The third Group Stage match will be played at Hard Rock Stadium – known as Miami Stadium for the World Cup – in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Scotland started its 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 win over Haiti on June 13.
The win marks their first in a World Cup since 1990 when they defeated Sweden 2-1.
Scotland played its second group round match on Friday where they lost to Morocco 1-0.
They wrapped up the group round on June 24 against five-time World Cup winners Brazil, where the Scots lost 3-0.
With the loss to Brazil, Scotland was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup and will not advance past the group round.
Rest of World
All 48 World Cup qualifying nations set up base camps across North America.
The teams are mostly set up at colleges and professional soccer training facilities.
Mexico’s national team is the only host country to have its home base be in the capital city, as their home base in Mexico City.
The U.S. national team’s home base is in Irvine, Calif., and Canada’s is in Vancouver.
Logistics have been a challenge during the largest World Cup. Curacao and Bosnia-Herzegovina will both travel over 5,000 miles just for the teams’ three Group Stage matches.
Iran – who is playing in Group G of the 2026 World Cup – has faced troubles related to visas and traveling.
The country’s participation in the World Cup was uncertain as they have had conflict with the United States since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran.
Iran moved the team’s home base for the World Cup to Tijuana, Mexico. They requested that their matches be played exclusively in Mexico, but the request was denied by FIFA.
The team is also only allowed to enter the U.S. one day prior to each match and must leave immediately following the conclusion of each match, said Andrew Guiliani, the executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force.
Iran’s head coach Amir Ghalenoei said this disrupts the team’s normal schedule, including post-match recovery.
Mehdi Torabi’s visa expired after the first match, but Iran’s winger got a new, multiple entry visa so that he could play in the U.S. for their other matches.
Despite various travel issues, Iran’s first group stage match ended in a 2-2 draw against New Zealand on June 15.
The closest city to Cherokee County hosting World Cup matches is Atlanta.
So far, Atlanta has hosted the group round matches of Spain versus Cape Verde, Czechia versus South Africa and Spain versus Saudi Arabia.
The city also hosted Morocco versus Haiti today and the Democratic Republic of Congo versus Uzbekistan on Saturday.
They will also host England versus DR Congo in the Round of 32 at noon today.
Atlanta will also be hosting matches in the Round of 16 on July 7 and the World Cup semifinals on July 15.