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The Kansas City region may host four base camps, not just three, during FIFA World Cup 26 next summer.
Swope Soccer Village, which served as Sporting Kansas City’s training facility before the club moved into Compass Minerals National Performance Center, has emerged as an additional possibility for a team base camp site, KSHB 41 News has learned.
Multiple sources with knowledge of ongoing base camp discussions confirmed that despite not being included in FIFA’s official literature about possible base camp locations, teams are considering Swope Soccer Village, which currently serves as Sporting KC II’s training center.
We are not naming our sources because they are not authorized to publicly discuss base camp negotiations.
When England’s Football Association toured Kansas City last summer, representatives are known to have visited Compass Minerals National Performance Center, the Kansas City Chiefs' practice facility at the Truman Sports Complex and Swope Soccer Village, among other stops.
Compass Minerals National Performance Center — a joint venture between Sporting KC and U.S. Soccer, which opened in 2018 — is also under consideration to serve as a World Cup base camp along with the Kansas City Current’s training ground, The University of Kansas Health System Training Center, and Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas.
RELATED | Tour Compass Minerals National Performance Center
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Base camps are where teams will stay and train during the weeks leading up to the World Cup, which begins June 11 when Mexico hosts South Africa at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Hosting a base camp means hosting players, coaches, support staff, traveling media and even fans for a month or more, which has a huge potential economic impact.
If Kansas City could land four base camps instead of three, it would be a feather in the region’s cap.
Reports from Argentina indicate that Messi and La Albiceleste, the reigning World Cup champions, are considering a base camp in Kansas City.
FIFA is prioritizing a team’s world ranking and whether it is playing in a given city in working through the base camp allocation process.
Based on those criteria, Argentina, which is ranked No. 2 in the world and opens defense of its World Cup title on June 16 against Algeria at Arrowhead, would have first dibs on Compass Minerals National Performance Center, which is expected to be among the most-coveted base camp sites because of its advanced technology and central geography.
The 42 teams that have qualified for the World Cup, which begins in June and includes six games at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, had until Jan. 9 to submit base camp preferences. Six more teams will qualify during mini-playoff tournaments in late March.
Argentina originally planned to build a base camp in the Miami area, but began exploring other options after the World Cup Final Draw on Dec. 5 put them in games in Kansas City, Dallas and Santa Clara, California.
Algeria — which plays two games in Kansas City, including its final Group J game on June 27 against Austria — is also believed to be strongly considering a base camp in the Kansas City area, possibly at Rock Chalk Park.
Two other group-stage games, Ecuador against Curaçao on June 20 and Tunisia against the Netherlands on June 25, will be played at Arrowhead.
Kansas City will also host a Round of 32 clash (July 3) and a quarterfinal (July 11) during the knockout rounds.
KSHB 41 previously confirmed that Germany and Austria have visited Kansas City to evaluate base camp options among known national teams.
Some national teams have started to announce base camp locations, but none have been formally announced yet in Kansas City.
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