College Campuses as World Cup Base Camps in the USA

With the United States, Canada, and Mexico, three countries will serve as hosts for this year’s tournament. The U.S., in particular, is making use of its unique infrastructure: numerous college campuses are opening their state-of-the-art sports facilities to participating national teams, serving as training and retreat centers during the tournament.
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Wake Forest University: World-Class Training Conditions

During their stay, the team will be accommodated at the historic “The Graylyn Estate” hotel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Training sessions will take place just minutes away at the facilities in and around WFU’s Spry Soccer Stadium.

With this decision, head coach Julian Nagelsmann has found a training base that meets the highest international standards keeping the ultimate goal firmly in sight: winning a fifth World Cup title.

Nagelsmann himself has expressed his enthusiasm about the conditions on site:
“We have three football fields in excellent condition that meet all of our athletic requirements. […] We have outstanding conditions here, both on the pitch and beyond.”
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More Than Soccer: An Outstanding Athletic Environment

But it’s not just Wake Forest University’s soccer facilities that are first-class. The facilities for football, track and field, basketball, and many other sports are also among the best in the country. It is precisely in this environment that our college athletes at WFU benefit every day from professional structures, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and a holistic approach to development.

Wake Forest University also has a special connection to our founder and CEO, Thomas Bojanowski. He himself was a student-athlete at WFU, where he was able to grow tremendously both athletically and personally. This formative experience inspired him to enable other athletes to follow the same path and to open doors to universities and sports programs across the United States.
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College Sports Facilities on the World Cup’s Biggest Stage

Wake Forest University is just one of many examples of the exceptional quality of U.S. college sports. In the coming weeks, more national teams are expected to announce their base camps at various college campuses.

Another major highlight is Hard Rock Stadium in Miami: the stadium that hosts home games for the Miami Hurricanes college football team as well as the NFL’s Miami Dolphins will serve as an official venue for seven World Cup matches in 2026.
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The German national team’s choice of Wake Forest University as its base camp underlines the growing importance of U.S. universities and their sports facilities on the global stage. For professional national teams as well as young college athletes, they offer conditions that are second to none worldwide.