Palm Beach County scored yet another coup in an effort to capitalize on the World Cup coming to South Florida.
World power England, a contender to recapture World Cup glory this summer, will swing through Palm Beach Gardens next week for pre-tournament training, bringing the total number of qualified teams visiting the area to four.
Two of the top five teams in FIFA’s world rankings will train at North County District Park in Palm Beach Gardens. England, ranked fourth, will be joined by fifth-ranked Portugal, whose roster includes star Cristiano Ronaldo.
In addition, the Dutch Caribbean island nation of Curacao will set up camp in Palm Beach County for the World Cup, which runs June 11 to July 19. Curacao, with a population of about 156,000, is the smallest nation to qualify for the tournament and will train at Florida Atlantic University.
Curacao is ranked 82nd in the world, one spot ahead of Haiti, which is training in Port St. Lucie at the Sandpiper All-Inclusive Resort.
England’s “Three Lions” will train at District Park, an 82-acre facility with 10 lighted Bermuda grass fields. National-team practices routinely are closed to the public. England’s roster includes stars Harry Kane and Jordan Pickford along with Declan Rice, who helped Arsenal win the Premier League title and will play for the UEFA Champions League trophy vs. Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, May 30.
The park hosted training camps for Real Madrid and Manchester City before the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
England chose Palm Beach Gardens because it will play friendlies against New Zealand in Tampa on June 6 and vs. Costa Rica in Orlando on June 10 before setting up its World Cup base camp in Kansas City.
England’s run to the final of the Euros in 2024 brought cries of “Football is Coming Home” throughout the UK before a 2-1 loss to Spain. The battle cry referred to England having created the sport before going on to its greatest glory, a 4-2 victory over West Germany at Wembley Stadium to claim the 1966 World Cup.
Sixty years later, can it claim its second?
England led by Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford, Declan Rice
England is led by Kane, the Bayern Munich striker formerly of Tottenham, who had eight goals in World Cup qualifying in the UEFA region. Rice, a midfielder for Arsenal, was tied for second among the region’s playmakers with four assists.
England, placed in Group L for the World Cup opening round, will face Croatia in Dallas, Ghana in Boston and Panama in New York/New Jersey, with the hopes of returning to that stadium for the final.
German-born Thomas Tuchel took over as England’s coach in January 2025, producing results that landed him an extension through the Euros in 2028. Tuchel, who formerly coached PSG, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, made an immediate splash by winning nine of his first 10 matches.
“He was the right person for the job when he joined us for the World Cup campaign and has only strengthened his reputation across the qualifiers,” said Mark Bullingham, CEO of England’s Football Association. “We know the players are right behind him and the togetherness within the group is for all to see.”
England cruised through World Cup qualifying in UEFA. In all competitions in 2025, England scored 26 goals and shut out all opponents except for a 3-1 loss to Senegal in a friendly.
This will mark England’s eighth successive trip to the World Cup, including semifinal appearances in 1990 and 2018. England’s overall record in the tournament is 32-20-22.
England will be looking to advance beyond its quarterfinal defeat against runner-up France at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: World power England to visit Palm Beach Gardens for World Cup training
Reporting by Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
