IRVINE, Calif.—The Irvine City Council voted on April 26 to allow the Great Park Sports Complex to be used as a training site for the 2026 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup.
As a result, Los Angeles has reached out to Irvine to potentially use their sports complex as part of their bid package, which features 24 soccer fields, as a training ground for players.
“We have positioned ourselves in a great spot to have a facility like the soccer stadium to bring not only local sports for kids and adult recreation leagues, but also for regional and in this case, international events,” Irvine Vice Mayor Anthony Kuo told The Epoch Times. “So it’s definitely exciting.”
This will be the first time that FIFA will host the tournament in three different countries—Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
The World Cup will consist of 48 teams competing in 80 matches and is a culmination of over 200 countries originally competing to be in the cup. The entire World Cup will be completed over a 45-day timeline.
If the site is selected by FIFA, it would have exclusive use of the complex during that period of time, which would give players time to practice and prepare for games.
The Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, with FIFA representatives, previously visited the Great Park Sports Complex in November 2021.
The final selection will only be made if both the City of Los Angeles is chosen as the host city, and the Great Park as one of the training grounds. This will be the sole discretion of FIFA.
If chosen, a planning report noted Irvine can expect to see a positive economic impact through hotel accommodations, with an anticipation of a minimum of 90 hotel rooms being rented for 45 days.
The approval was granted with a unanimous vote by the city council as part of its consent calendar.
