Steve Clarke Sets Charlotte as Scotland's 2026 Base Camp
Steve Clarke’s Scotland will base their World Cup 2026 camp in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the SFA announced the decision in February 2026. The move puts Scotland on the East Coast for a tournament that will be their first World Cup campaign since 1998.
Scotland were drawn into Group C and will play their first two matches at Gillette Stadium in Boston before finishing the group stage at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Charlotte sits roughly midway between those East Coast host cities, giving Clarke’s squad a base that fits the trip pattern built into their draw.
Charlotte FC Training Site
Scotland will use Charlotte FC’s Atrium Health Performance Park for training and recovery between matches. The club said the Scotland National Team selected its training facility as the Team Base Camp training site for FIFA World Cup 2026.
The site has four full-size grass football pitches, one full-size astro pitch and one nine-aside astro pitch. It also includes gyms, a canteen, an auditorium and meeting rooms, giving Scotland a football-specific setup on the East Coast that is among the few of its kind.
Travel Between Group Games
Officials said the facility is about 20 minutes from a private airport, and Scotland are expected to use that airport to fly in and out for their three matches. Charlotte is about two hours by flight from both Miami and Boston, which keeps the travel load manageable across the group stage.
The base camp choice also lines up with the SFA’s process. It said it looked at FIFA-nominated options against its own predetermined criteria before settling on Charlotte, a decision that narrows Scotland’s tournament logistics to one place for training, recovery and movement between games.
Smith, Dicker and McGinn
Dean Smith is Charlotte FC’s manager and a good friend of Clarke. He has also managed several players in the Scotland squad, including John McGinn, which gives the setup a familiar edge for a team that has been away from the World Cup stage for 28 years.
Gary Dicker, Charlotte FC’s assistant manager, said there is “loads of stuff to do here with the kids” and called Charlotte “a fast-growing city, which isn’t too busy,” while also pointing to the mountains and sea nearby. For Scotland, the practical side is already fixed: the camp is set, the pitch count is high, and the travel plan now runs through Charlotte.
