The US national football team received an unexpected advantage in the playoffs of the home World Cup – at least until the quarterfinals, the team will not leave the West Coast and will be able to avoid grueling flights across the country, writes The Athletic.
The Americans finished the 2026 World Cup group stage in first place in Group D, despite losing to Turkey in the final round. Thanks to this, the team maintained a more comfortable route through the tournament bracket.
In the 1/16 finals, Team USA will play against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the San Francisco Bay Area. If they win, the Americans will travel to Seattle for the round of 16 matchup and then, if they advance, return to Southern California for the quarterfinals. Thus, the team’s entire path to the quarterfinals will take place within one time zone.
As The Athletic notes, this scenario was not an accident. Even at the calendar preparation stage, the US Soccer Federation asked FIFA to minimize flights and time zone changes for teams as much as possible.
According to former head coach Gregg Berhalter, US officials in 2023 and 2024 discussed the structure of the schedule with FIFA and emphasized the importance of a stable base camp.
Since the start of the tournament, Team USA has been based in Irvine in Southern California. During the entire group stage, the team made only two flights – to Seattle and back. The federation believes that minimizing the logistics burden helps players recover better between matches.
US Soccer Federation CEO JT Batson told The Athletic that one of the main goals was to create the most comfortable infrastructure for the team for the long term.
The victory in the group turned out to be key from a logistics point of view. If the Americans had finished second, their itinerary would have looked much more complicated: a Round of 16 match would have been played in Arlington, Texas, followed by a flight to Atlanta for the Round of 16, and a potential quarterfinal in Kansas City.
Only if the US team reaches the semifinals will they have to leave the West Coast. The World Cup final will take place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
