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FIFA World Cup teams can choose new Mansfield stadium
City leaders in Mansfield, Texas, are positioning their nearly completed stadium as a premier 2026 FIFA World Cup base camp while awaiting official team selections.
MANSFIELD, Texas - As construction crews work to finish Texas Health Mansfield Stadium, city leaders say the venue remains in contention to serve as a base camp for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
No teams have yet selected North Texas as their home during the tournament.
Mansfield Stadium status
What we know:
A crane towers over the construction site off State Highway 360, where fresh grass was installed last week and a video board is expected to be completed next week.
City officials say the project is on schedule and must be finished by May if it is chosen as a World Cup base camp.
"I’m hearing we still have some national teams who are shopping," said Mayor Michael Evans. "I want to make a pitch to them that you can’t have a better venue than beautiful Mansfield, Texas."
The stadium will be home to North Texas Soccer Club, MLS’ FC Dallas next pro affiliate, a developmental and reserve league.
The pitch for international soccer teams
Local perspective:
Evans described the project as part of a broader entertainment development and called Mansfield the "southern gateway" for professional soccer in North Texas, complementing Frisco in the north.
Mansfield is one of four potential World Cup base camp sites in North Texas, along with Texas Christian University, the University of North Texas and Toyota Stadium in Frisco. Base camps serve as training and lodging sites for teams during the tournament.
North Texas training sites
Mansfield’s Tourism Manager, Tim Roberts, said several teams toured the facility after the World Cup draw determined which nations would play in the region.
"Once the draw happened, we knew who would be here locally. We had a good number of teams come through and check the stadium out," said Roberts.
"We are already seeing big rates and big interest in Mansfield in the weeks surrounding the games."
FIFA base camp selections
Dig deeper:
Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission, said base camp decisions are still evolving.
"We know our base camp locations are still in contention," Paul said. "We also know that there are teams yet to qualify. In certain locations, the national teams themselves maybe have made some announcements, but FIFA has not officially, and I think that’s going to take shape by the end of March."
Big picture view:
North Texas is set to host nine World Cup matches beginning in mid-June, the most of any host city. Local officials expect Mansfield to draw visitors to Arlington and the surrounding area.
Some highly ranked teams have already announced their base camp selections. Germany will stay in North Carolina, Saudi Arabia chose Austin, and England, the Netherlands and Argentina will base in Kansas City despite having matches at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Japan selected Nashville, Croatia chose Alexandria, Virginia and Austria will stay in Santa Barbara, California.
What's next:
Six teams have yet to qualify for the tournament.
The North Texas organizing committee said this week it remains hopeful that one or more teams will ultimately choose to have their base in the region.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX 4's Peyton Yager.