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With just 17 days before Canada’s men’s national soccer team begins its World Cup run on home soil for the first time, players are arriving from pro clubs across California, England, Belgium, and beyond.
But instead of gathering in Canada, the team is training about 800 kilometres south, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Atrium Health Performance Park, home to Major League Soccer’s Charlotte FC, is hosting Canada’s training camp this week. Head coach Jesse Marsch plans to announce his final 26-man World Cup roster from Charlotte on Friday.
Why train in the U.S. when the World Cup matches start on Canadian turf?
Marsch pointed to the weather.
“Our Canadian boys are not used to playing in the high levels of heat,” Marsch said Monday during a press conference. With the World Cup’s games spread across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, he anticipates “higher temperatures, more humidity” and expects many teams to struggle adjusting to those conditions.
He recalled Canada’s surprising run to the semi-finals at the sweltering 2024 Copa América in the U.S., where the team trained in Atlanta with temperatures hitting 38 C.
An outdoor session initially planned for Tuesday morning was pushed to later in the day to align with warmer temperatures around 28 C and humid conditions, with a chance of rain or thunderstorms.
Canada’s three group matches are scheduled for afternoon kickoffs: facing Bosnia-Herzegovina at Toronto’s open-air stadium on June 12, then Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24 at Vancouver’s BC Place, which features a retractable roof.
If Canada advances to the knockout stage for the first time, they could play again in Vancouver or travel to Santa Clara, California, home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. That stadium recently recorded the highest solar intensity of any open-roof World Cup venue in the U.S.
Other possible knockout venues include Los Angeles’ climate-controlled stadium or Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said that “a lot of running, a lot of sprinting” in Charlotte will prepare players for Canada’s very physical style.
Heat training is a key part of the team’s World Cup preparation, Blue told CBC News last week.
Marsch also explained the benefits of spending time in an isolated environment away from the spotlight at home, allowing the squad to focus on World Cup preparations.
“Then we’ll have the time to go to Edmonton and Montreal and eventually Toronto and Vancouver,” Marsch said, “where we’ll experience the benefits of a home World Cup and of our fans and the energy.”
Before the tournament, Canada faces Uzbekistan and Ireland in friendlies next week in Edmonton and Montreal.
Marsch remains optimistic star Alphonso Davies will recover in time to play, though Davies may miss Canada’s opener.