FIFA makes STL a home away from home – Spectrum News

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FIFA declared St. Louis as one of its potential “homes away from home” for 48 participating teams from all over the world.
St. Louis was not selected as one of the 16 host cities, however, it will have the chance of hosting a team who would train at Saint Louis University and reside at the Magnolia Hotel in St. Louis. These visiting teams may use St. Louis as a hub from where they will travel to their first three matches.
“Even if a city is not staging matches, a participating team coming to stay creates a strong personal bond with the competition for people locally," said Chief Operating Officer of the World Cup, Heimo Schirgi, on inside.fifa.com. "It will see them adopt their guests as a second team during the tournament, thereby connecting even more people to the FIFA World Cup.”
Currently, St. Louis is one of 24 “high-grade locations.” In the next 18 months, the list of team base camps will increase to include more locations in the US, as well as Mexico and Canada.
Teams are not require to make their final selection until after the Final Draw for the FIFA  World Cup 26 which is likely to take place near the end of 2025. The draw will reveal the locations teams will play their group matches. Visiting teams will take that knowledge into consideration as they make their final selection.
Here is a more detailed version of the tournament’s match schedule.

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