Scotland’s national team is expected to park its 2026 FIFA World Cup base in Charlotte, with reports saying the squad will fly back into the Queen City between group-stage matches. The move follows manager Steve Clarke’s scouting trips across the United States and would make Charlotte the hub of Scotland’s tournament prep. Local officials and club leaders have not put anything in writing yet, but multiple outlets report that a formal announcement is on the way.
Queen City News first reported that Scotland plans to use Charlotte FC’s training campus, citing team sources and earlier coverage, and noted that a formal confirmation could land later this week. According to Queen City News, the team would base itself in Charlotte between group matches in Boston and Miami.
Why Charlotte?
Charlotte FC’s Atrium Health Performance Park offers the kind of on-site training and recovery setup national teams usually covet: a 52,000-square-foot building, multiple full-size grass and turf pitches, a dedicated nutrition cafeteria and a high-end weight room. As outlined by Charlotte FC, the complex features five full grass fields, one full turf field and additional half pitches, all of which can streamline training logistics during a long tournament. The club also notes that the facility is designed to host community programming, which could translate into more local exposure if Scotland ends up using the campus.
How Scotland picked Charlotte
Manager Steve Clarke reportedly crossed the Atlantic to inspect potential bases and favored a quieter city site and upgraded accommodations over some of the standard FIFA-proposed hotels. The Herald reported that Clarke visited Boston, New York and Charlotte during that tour, and his staff zeroed in on facilities that met the Scottish FA’s performance requirements. That approach, with an emphasis on training quality and privacy, appears to have driven the decision.
Charlotte is not the only Carolina stop on the World Cup map. Queen City News reported that Norway will be based in Greensboro, while Germany has been linked to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, according to FIFA listings and public reporting. Between FIFA’s base-camp program and the choices made by individual federations, several non-host cities are getting pulled into the World Cup orbit, and area businesses are already eyeing the tourism and service demand that traveling teams and fans are expected to bring.
Charlotte has been steadily building its case as a soccer city. Charlotte FC announced that Bank of America Stadium will host a U.S. Men’s National Team friendly on May 31, a marquee warm-up that organizers say will help the region fine-tune logistics before June. In a club release, Charlotte FC framed both the friendly and its new training campus as key pieces in its push to attract more high-profile international events. Fans now have one more thing to refresh their feeds for: a formal green light from the Scottish FA and local hosts in the coming days.
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