FIFA’s decision to expand the tournament and spread it across 16 venues around North America means teams are travelling vast distances by air from their base camps to host cities and back again. The most demanding (and polluting) group stage schedules are laid out below.
Curaçao. Based in Boca Raton, Florida. Total Distance: 10,144 km
Curaçao’s base in Boca Raton places them as far as possible from two of three match venues. Kansas City is 1,952 km away ( their single longest leg) while the Houston opener and Philadelphia match both require long flights.
→ Houston
1,541 km
→ Kansas City
1,952 km
→ Philadelphia
1,579 km
Austria. Based in Santa Barbara, California. Total Distance: 9,718 km
Austria’s university base in Santa Barbara produces two of the longest individual travel legs of the group stage, flying to Dallas and Kansas City. Their opener in San Francisco (446 km) is the only relatively short journey.
→ San Francisco
446 km
→ Dallas
2,124 km
→ Kansas City
2,289 km
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Total Distance: 9,476 km
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s base in Salt Lake City creates one of the most geographically scattered schedules of the tournament. Match 1 sends them 2,679 km north-east to Toronto, crossing into Canada and two time zones. Match 2 then sends them 933 km south-west to Los Angeles before Match 3 takes them 1,126 km north to Seattle.
→ Toronto
2,679 km
→ Los Angeles
933 km
→ Seattle
1,126 km
England. Based in Kansas City, Missouri. Total Distance: 8,994 km
England’s base sits in the middle of the continent, but two of their three group-stage matches are on the East Coast: Boston (2,019 km) and New Jersey (1,763 km). Despite all matches taking place within the same country, their group stage still racks up close to 9,000 km of travel.
→ Dallas
715 km
→ Boston
2,019 km
→ New Jersey
1,763 km
Jordan. Based in Portland, Oregon. Total Distance: 8,690 km
Jordan’s University of Portland base is a long way from the venue of their first two matches in San Francisco but their third group match in Dallas (2,625 km away) produces the second-longest individual leg of the entire tournament — a full transcontinental crossing. Portland to Dallas is further than London to Moscow.
→ San Francisco ×2
860 km
→ Dallas
2,625 km
The Full Travel Rankings
# | Team | Base camp | Match venues | Total km | One way distance from base camp to match (x 2 to get to the total in KM) |
1 | Curaçao | Boca Raton FL | Houston, Kansas City, Philadelphia | 10,144 | 1,541 / 1,952 / 1,579 |
2 | Austria | Santa Barbara CA | San Francisco, Dallas, Kansas City | 9,718 | 446 / 2,124 / 2,289 |
3 | Bosnia | Salt Lake City UT | Toronto, Los Angeles, Seattle | 9,476 | 2,679 / 933 / 1,126 |
4 | England | Kansas City MO | Dallas, Boston, New Jersey | 8,994 | 715 / 2,019 / 1,763 |
5 | Jordan | Portland OR | San Francisco ×2, Dallas | 8,690 | 860 / 860 / 2,625 |
6 | Czechia | Mansfield TX | Zapopan, Atlanta, Mexico City | 8,308 | 1,473 / 1,188 / 1,493 |
7 | New Zealand | San Diego CA | Los Angeles, Vancouver ×2 | 7,986 | 179 / 1,907 / 1,907 |
8 | Japan | Nashville TN | Dallas, Monterrey, Dallas | 7,440 | 992 / 1,736 / 992 |
9 | Türkiye | Mesa AZ | Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles | 7,328 | 1,995 / 1,072 / 597 |
10 | Qatar | Santa Barbara CA | San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle | 7,208 | 446 / 1,676 / 1,482 |
11 | Uruguay | Playa del Carmen MX | Miami ×2, Zapopan | 7,014 | 905 / 905 / 1,697 |
12 | Iran | Tucson AZ | Los Angeles ×2, Seattle | 6,750 | 707 / 707 / 1,961 |
13 | Scotland | Charlotte NC | Boston ×2, Miami | 6,748 | 1,160 / 1,160 / 1,054 |
14 | Canada | Vancouver BC | Toronto, Vancouver ×2 | 6,718 | 3,359 / 0 / 0 |
15 | Saudi Arabia | Austin TX | Miami, Atlanta, Houston | 6,686 | 1,792 / 1,316 / 235 |
16 | Uzbekistan | Marietta GA | Mexico City, Houston, Atlanta | 6,632 | 2,169 / 1,135 / 12 |
17 | Portugal | Palm Beach FL | Houston ×2, Miami | 6,368 | 1,539 / 1,539 / 106 |
18 | Germany | Winston-Salem NC | Houston, Toronto, New Jersey | 6,324 | 1,575 / 843 / 744 |
19 | South Africa | Tlaxiala MX | Mexico City, Atlanta, Monterrey | 5,958 | 57 / 2,207 / 715 |
20 | Colombia | Guadalajara MX | Mexico City, Zapopan, Miami | 5,798 | 467 / 0 / 2,432 |
21 | Switzerland | San Diego CA | San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver | 5,648 | 738 / 179 / 1,907 |
22 | Spain | Chattanooga TN | Atlanta ×2, Zapopan | 5,426 | 167 / 167 / 2,379 |
23 | Croatia | Alexandria VA | Dallas, Toronto, Philadelphia | 5,356 | 1,899 / 573 / 206 |
24 | Norway | Greensboro NC | Boston, New Jersey, Boston | 5,252 | 977 / 672 / 977 |
25 | Algeria | Lawrence KS | Kansas City ×2, San Francisco | 4,962 | 58 / 2,365 / 58 |
26 | Ecuador | Columbus OH | Philadelphia, Kansas City, New Jersey | 4,850 | 667 / 997 / 761 |
27 | DR Congo | Houston TX | Houston, Zapopan, Atlanta | 4,832 | 0 / 1,288 / 1,128 |
28 | Australia | Alameda CA | Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco | 4,786 | 1,283 / 1,094 / 16 |
29 | Cape Verde | Tampa FL | Atlanta, Miami, Houston | 4,550 | 671 / 331 / 1,273 |
30 | Iraq | White Sulphur Springs WV | Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto | 4,238 | 946 / 516 / 657 |
31 | Belgium | Renton WA | Vancouver, Los Angeles, Vancouver | 3,902 | 211 / 1,529 / 211 |
32 | Brazil | Morristown NJ | New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami | 3,766 | 0 / 126 / 1,757 |
33 | Netherlands | Riverside MO | Dallas, Houston, Kansas City | 3,518 | 716 / 1,027 / 16 |
34 | USA | Irvine CA | Los Angeles ×2, Seattle | 3,410 | 56 / 1,593 / 56 |
35 | Haiti | Galloway NJ | Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta | 3,176 | 418 / 71 / 1,099 |
36 | Tunisia | Santiago NL MX | Monterrey ×2, Kansas City | 3,170 | 0 / 0 / 1,585 |
37 | Morocco | Morristown NJ | New Jersey, Boston, Atlanta | 3,014 | 0 / 310 / 1,197 |
38 | Argentina | Kansas City MO | Kansas City, Dallas ×2 | 2,924 | 0 / 731 / 731 |
39 | Sweden | Frisco TX | Monterrey, Houston, Dallas | 2,684 | 895 / 404 / 43 |
40 | Egypt | Spokane WA | Vancouver ×2, Seattle | 2,564 | 457 / 457 / 368 |
41 | Ghana | Smithfield RI | Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia | 2,252 | 682 / 66 / 378 |
42 | Panama | New Tecumseth ON | Toronto ×2, New Jersey | 1,526 | 78 / 78 / 607 |
43 | France | Waltham MA | New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston | 1,488 | 307 / 433 / 4 |
44 | South Korea | Zapopan MX | Zapopan ×2, Monterrey | 1,270 | 0 / 0 / 635 |
45 | Paraguay | San Jose CA | Los Angeles, San Francisco ×2 | 1,256 | 492 / 68 / 68 |
46 | Senegal | Piscataway NJ | New Jersey ×2, Toronto | 1,230 | 32 / 32 / 551 |
47 | Ivory Coast | Chester PA | Philadelphia, Toronto, Philadelphia | 1,144 | 19 / 534 / 19 |
48 | Mexico | Mexico City MX | Mexico City ×2, Zapopan | 934 | 0 / 467 / 0 |