Which World Cup teams will make their ‘base camp’ in DFW? It’s a process
The FIFA World Cup match schedule is set, and now North Texas organizers are turning to the next order of business: Which teams will make their base camps in Dallas-Fort Worth during the world’s biggest sporting event?
There are five primary base camp options for teams to train at in Dallas-Fort Worth: three universities (Dallas Baptist, North Texas and TCU); Mansfield Stadium, which is under construction; and Toyota Stadium, home of Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas.
Dan Hunt, co-chair of the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee, broke down how the selection process will work.
“Every national team has a different request,” he said. “And for those that don’t know, the national teams pick in order of their global ranking. So Spain and Argentina will go first and second, and then down the list from there, and so working with each of them to see if we can fulfill what they want is probably our biggest immediate challenge.”
Teams will pick their top three base camp preferences and submit those to FIFA in January. Base camp announcements are expected in March or April.
“Teams will be doing site visits,” Hunt said. “So after [seeing] the match schedule on Saturday, then all of the teams kind of disperse to the cities that they want to look at potentially as base camps. Some of that has to do with they’re already playing there, or the base camp may be in their group area, kind of in their pod. So they will have a ranking after they’re done with all their site visits.”
North Texas received an attractive match schedule for the World Cup, including two games each from Argentina and Japan and other high-profile teams such as the Netherlands, England and Croatia.
Hunt said he hopes all the North Texas base camps are used, something that is not guaranteed depending on team preferences.
“Obviously, we want as many top 25 teams as possible,” he said. “They bring these incredible fan bases, and to be able to share this with different needs, this passion, this energy that exists. I mean, I’m a traditionalist. I’ve been going at this for a long time, but the fans of Brazil and Holland and England, you think about Argentina, if we can bring this to the Metroplex, it’ll be incredible.”
Monica Paul, president of the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee, talked about how excited she was about the slate of games the Metroplex received.
“It’s like an early Christmas present, quite honestly,” Paul said. “When you see that match schedule come out on Saturday with the match times, you know, just very blessed and even getting more excited for what this region is going to be able to experience this summer.”
Hunt, who owns FC Dallas, said he had to be biased when asked which base camp stands out the most.
“Toyota Stadium and Soccer Center is a first-class facility, and when we’re done with the renovation, I think it’s going to be one of the finest small soccer-specific stadiums in the entire world,” he said. “We’re spending $200 million on the building, but right now, with that field, with our training facilities, weight facilities that we continue to add on all the time, and 17 fields there, National Soccer Hall of Fame, I would say that’s the premier one.”
It will be a few months until World Cup teams select their base camps, but the organizing committee will be waiting with bated breath.
