PALM BEACH GARDENS — The credit for Palm Beach County cementing its place on the world soccer map goes to … a putt?
When local soccer coach Gary Walker wanted to impress England manager Thomas Tuchel with the quality of the playing surfaces in Palm Beach Gardens’ North County District Park six months ago, his sales pitch included putting a golf ball on a soccer field. Tuchel gave the demonstration two thumbs up — and was back on those fields again Tuesday, June 2, leading the English national team through its first U.S. training session for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
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While attracting the fourth-ranked team in the world certainly is a milestone for the facility, it’s not an outlier for either the park or the area.
Haiti is training in Port St. Lucie. Curacao, the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup, arrives next week to train at Florida Atlantic University. And North County District Park will welcome No. 5 Portugal next week to use its own secluded portion of the facility, giving the park two of the world’s top five teams in the FIFA rankings.
The allure, from the managers’ perspective, is simple. This will be a steamy World Cup, including seven matches at Hard Rock Stadium. The faster teams get acclimated, the better their chances. By the time England finished its 90-minute workout, the heat index read 101. Most players, seeking any relief possible, went sleeveless.
“Playing football in this weather is something else,” midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who plays for Manchester United, said as teammates signed autographs for a crowd of perhaps 200 local residents.
The 82-acre park, which opened seven years ago, cost $13.7 million but has paid for itself, mayor Dana Middleton said. Real Madrid has trained there. So has Manchester City and a handful of Major League Soccer teams, all thanks to word of mouth. In addition to secure fields, teams can use an adjacent gym to train, paying the city $15,000 per day.
“It has exceeded our expectations,” Middleton said.
Walker traces it back to a 1989 call from longtime friend Tony Adams, then captain of Arsenal, which had committed to play Argentine club Independiente at what is now Hard Rock Stadium. Arsenal trained at PGA National, a few minutes from Walker’s home, so Adams became a regular visitor to the area. He put Walker in touch with England’s football association, which governs the national team and arranged for Tuchel’s scouting visit. Walker also established a connection with Uruguay’s legendary manager, Marcelo Bielsa, giving the park a second prominent proponent.
Plus, there’s that putt by Walker for Tuchel that didn’t even have to go into any hole.
“That did impress him,” Walker said. “The thing about it, coaches and players, they want to play on the great fields. And I thought I gave him the impression of putting the ball on a smooth putting green.”
Walker said Tuchel was surprised to learn the fields were open to the public. He called them “some of the best fields he’s ever been on,” Walker said.
England forward Ollie Watkins, of Aston Villa, wouldn’t argue.
“Obviously, top-class facilities,” Watkins said. “We’re a world-class team at the end of the day, so I think you need world-class facilities.”
England’s base camp during World Cup in Kansas City
England’s base camp during the World Cup will be in Kansas City. Palm Beach County made sense for its prep camp because of upcoming friendlies against New Zealand in Tampa and Costa Rica in Orlando, which serve as its final World Cup tuneups.
English hopes are high after it reached the final of the 2024 Euros before losing to Spain 2-1. “Football is coming home” became the battle cry of fans because England invented the sport. You’ll hear it again should this English team make a run in the World Cup, which runs June 11 through July 19.
For this team, not even second place apparently would suffice.
“Everyone knows what everyone’s trying to achieve here,” Watkins said. “We’re a big nation and we haven’t been as successful as we wanted to be in these competitions before. So yeah, the aim is obviously to win the World Cup.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: World Cup 2026: England trains, praises Palm Beach Gardens’ facilities
Reporting by Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
