As the author of “Crossing time zones and touchlines” as well as currently completing a PhD exploring the impact of travel in elite North American soccer, I have developed a particular interest in how organizations optimize performance within complex logistical environments. Working within Major League Soccer and alongside supporting some National Federations preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, one thing has become increasingly clear: travel across North America is not simply an inconvenience, it is a real performance variable.
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ will present a challenge unlike any tournament football has experienced before. Teams will compete across three countries, three time zones, multiple climates and vast travel distances. A flight from Vancouver to Miami covers more than 2,800 miles. Mexico City sits at over 7,000 feet of altitude. Teams may transition from dry heat to humidity, from Pacific Time to Eastern Time, English to Spanish speaking countries, all while attempting to tactically prepare, to consistently perform and recover under the highest levels of scrutiny.
Much of the pre-tournament conversation has focused on infrastructure, weather, finances, stadiums and scheduling. However, many federations have been working for several months and are already treating travel and operational planning as a central component of their performance strategy.
Clues hidden within final preparations
The locations selected for final pre-tournament preparation matches offer valuable insight into how federations are approaching the environmental demands of the World Cup.
Some nations have intentionally scheduled preparation camps and fixtures in high heat and humidity environments to simulate conditions they may encounter during June and July. Others have prioritized altitude exposure, particularly those with matches in Mexico City (7200ft) or Guadalajara (5100ft).
Coaches, operation teams and performance staff understand that adaptation is not simply physiological but it is also a behavioral, psychological and operational stressor. Players must adapt not only to climate and environment but address the altered hydration requirements, sleep routines, nutritional timing, recovery demands and training tolerances. The challenge becomes even more complicated when these environmental stressors are layered on top of long-haul travel and compressed match schedules. In North American soccer, research has demonstrated that it is often not one isolated journey that creates problems, but the cumulative effect of repeated exposure over time exponentially increases these challenges.
Centralization and “Travel Minimization” is clearly a priority
Another interesting trend has been where federations are choosing to establish their tournament base camps. Ten of the 48 nations have based themselves centrally offering efficient travel reducing the overall burden due to efficient access to multiple World Cup host cities with fewer extreme east-west transitions.
There is also a subtle but important factor that may help certain tournament logistics: Mexico does not currently observe daylight saving time changes in the same way as much of the United States and Canada. During the tournament period, this effectively aligns much of Mexico with Mountain Time, slightly reducing potential circadian disruption for some travel routes compared to what many initially anticipated. This may seem like marginal details. However, federations are acutely aware that even small disruptions to sleep timing, meal schedules, recovery windows, and daily rhythm can all impact performance negatively.
The importance of operational calmness
My research within MLS environments repeatedly highlighted the importance of consistency and operational calmness. Interestingly, practitioners often emphasized that operational stability may matter more than perfection. Travel fatigue is not purely physiological phenomenon. Much of its impact perceptual and psychological. Some of these factors can include long travel demands, uncertainty, uncomfortable environments and disrupted routines all contribute to stress accumulation.
The organizations that often manage travel best are not necessarily the ones with the most advanced technology but are the ones that remove friction from the athlete experience. In MLS, this has evolved dramatically in recent years. Travel improvements including chartered flights, schedule control, optimization of hotel and travel standards, nutrition planning and individualized protocols have significantly changed how teams approach performance support on the road.
At San Diego FC, there is increasing recognition that travel management is fundamentally an extension of human performance strategy. The objective is not to eliminate travel stress entirely, that is impossible in North America, but rather to identify confounding variables, identify which are modifiable and thus optimize these controllables. Interestingly, some of these variables are uniform across clubs however each club has their own unique challenges just like each World Cup Nation will have to identify and address.
This becomes particularly relevant for teams playing matches in Mexico City and Guadalajara. It will be fascinating to observe how early federations choose to arrive before fixtures, especially when comparing teams permanently based in Mexico such as South Africa and Columbia versus those commuting in and out for individual matches. The balance between acclimatization benefits and additional systemic stress will likely become one of the tournament’s most interesting operational variables.
The tournament may change how sport thinks about travel
One of the biggest opportunities from the FIFA World Cup 2026™ is the potential for the tournament to reshape how not only global football but sport understands travel and recovery. There is a rise in multi nation hosting tournaments and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for single cities to host Olympic competitions due to the infrastructural demands.
For many supporters, the vastness and realities of North American geography can be difficult to fully appreciate until experienced firsthand. Some of the lessons emerging from North American soccer may ultimately prove highly valuable for sport in general. As the tournament unfolds, there will inevitably be stories about tactics, players, decisions, the tournament itself; as there already has been pre-tournament. But beneath the surface, there may also be another competition taking place; one centered around logistics, recovery, environmental adaptation, and operational execution.
