From Lisbon to Florida: Portugal’s state-of-the-art facilities in their World Cup 2026 preparations | OneFootball

The first phase of Portugal’s World Cup preparation schedule is at Cidade do Futebol on the outskirts of Lisbon

Portugal are preparing for World Cup 2026 having been given the best possible conditions to succeed. After the initial get-together and training camp at the FPF’s state-of-the-art Cidade do Futebol headquarters in Oeiras on the outskirts of Lisbon, the Seleção will benefit from luxury accommodation and world-class training facilities once they arrive stateside.

Long gone are the days of chaotic organisation that hampered the Seleção in past World Cups and Euros, such as the famously disastrous logistics surrounding World Cup 1986, leading to predictable failure on the pitch.

In stark contrast to distant tournaments, the Portuguese Football Federation has been a help rather than a hindrance since the turn of the century. Portugal have always had talent. It is no coincidence that when the FPF eventually became a professional, modern, well-run organisation as regards all matters linked to the Seleção, the nation has consistently excelled on the world stage.

It’s enough to make you think what Portugal could have achieved had this transformation occurred decades earlier…

Florida awaits

After the fortnight on home soil, the Portuguese delegation will fly to America on 12 June, curiously after the World Cup has kicked off. The day before, Mexico host South Africa in the opening match of the tournament. Portugal only play their first match one week later (17 June to be exact) versus Democratic Republic of Congo, in Houston.

Despite playing their first two matches in Houston, Texas, Portugal’s initial base will be the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, in Florida.

Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, in Florida (Photo: www.fourseasons.com)

The luxury resort was also the chosen HQ by Real Madrid at last year’s FIFA Club World Cup. Stays at the hotel range from around €1000 to over €8500 per night. It is located just seven kilometres from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beach club estate.

Roberto Martínez and his players will ready themselves for action at the training grounds of the Gardens North County District Park, considered one of the best soccer facilities in the USA, located around 30 kilometres from their hotel.

The complex covers over 82 hectares, has 10 football pitches and is furnished with all the modern infrastructures needed for elite sports teams.

Curiously, the training centre is currently being used by England’s national team, who arrived there yesterday and will stay for the next week and half, before switching to their base in Kansas.

(Image: www.palmbeachsports.com)

Portugal’s final Group K match is in Miami, but the team’s base may change after the group stage.

Route to the final: possible future venues

Should Portugal win the section and progress all the way to the final the match venues will be: Kansas, Vancouver, Kansas, Atlanta, New York.

If Portugal finish runners-up in Group K and make the final, the venues will be: Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York.

There is also another route to glory, which would involve finishing as one of the best third-placed teams in the group stage. The variables are too many to calculate the venues in advance in this scenario.

An undesirable pathway it maybe, although nobody affiliated to Portugal will complain if it ends up with Cristiano Ronaldo lifting the trophy to the New York skies on 19 June. After all, Portugal won Euro 2016 after they came third in their group.