Ronaldo, Portugal may set up World Cup base camp in Miami. Here’s what we know
Lionel Messi’s fiercest rival, Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo, may be spending much of the 2026 World Cup in Messi’s backyard.
Well, not exactly his backyard, but somewhere in South Florida, not far from where Messi and his Inter Miami teammates live and train.
The Argentine federation announced on Wednesday that its team will have its World Cup base camp in Kansas City. Meanwhile, indications are that Ronaldo will be in or near Miami.
Two media outlets, the Record in Portugal and O Jornal, a bilingual publication serving the Portuguese-speaking communities of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, reported in the past week that Portugal national team coach Roberto Martinez said Miami was chosen as their World Cup base camp.
“I can’t confirm, because FIFA will only confirm it in two weeks, but I can say that our idea is to stay in Florida, in Miami,” Martinez revealed in a Jan. 30 interview at the Portuguese Soccer Congress that was held in the City of Football sports complex, where he was a panelist.
“We have two games in Houston, but in a closed stadium. So, the idea is not to train in Houston, it’s to train in the conditions of the third game, which is against Colombia, in Miami. So, it makes sense that our base camp is in Miami and we can go to Houston for the first two games, come back, and work with the conditions of the third game.”
It is unclear if Martinez meant Miami or the Miami area, which would include Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
Considerations for base camps include proximity/easy travel to and from game sites, distance from the airport, privacy, security, quality of training fields and fitness equipment, accommodations for fans and media, and recreational opportunities.
Curacao, the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup, will be based in Boca Raton and train at Florida Atlantic University.
A facility that might attract a team like Portugal is the Gardens North County District Park in Palm Beach Gardens, which is where Real Madrid trained during the 2025 Club World Cup. It has 10 lighted grass fields that were built to FIFA regulations and plenty of posh lodging options nearby.
Another option would be Beyond Bancard Field, on the campus of Nova Southeastern University in Davie, at the site of the former Miami Dolphins training facility. The $7 million, 7,500-seat soccer specific stadium is the home of Fort Lauderdale United, the women’s professional USL team.
The Nova complex includes seven fields (most of them natural grass), locker rooms, film rooms, training rooms, gym and a boot room. Among the teams that have trained there are Egyptian club team Al Ahly, the Vancouver Whitecaps, the men’s national teams of Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico, and the women’s national teams of Argentina and Colombia.
A source with knowledge of the World Cup team site visits said England, Netherlands, Scotland and Ecuador had inquired about the Nova facilities and that Beyond Bancard Field could host training for Portugal or Colombia on the eve of their June 27 match at Hard Rock Stadium.
Another obvious site for a World Cup base camp is Inter Miami’s state-of-the-art Florida Blue Training Center, a 50,000-square-foot facility in Fort Lauderdale, adjacent to Chase Stadium. It cost $60 million and the 30-acre complex features seven professional fields (six natural grass, one turf). It has locker rooms, recovery areas with hydrotherapy pools and an underwater treadmill, a player lounge, a kitchen, and office space.
Several national teams and club teams have used Inter Miami’s training grounds over the years, including Argentina, FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, but it seems unlikely Ronaldo’s team would wind up in Messi’s home.
Barry University in Miami Shores has a rich soccer history, having hosted the U.S. national team and most recently Boca Juniors and Chelsea during the 2025 Club World Cup. But, Barry’s athletic facilities are undergoing extensive renovations as part of a joint project with Miami Country Day School, so the soccer fields will not be available until Fall.
Manchester City trained at Lynn University of Boca Raton. FIU is another local college campus with strong soccer history that could land a World Cup team for training this summer.
Portugal is in Group K and opens the World Cup against the winner of the Inter-confederation playoff (New Caledonia, Jamaica, Congo) on June 17 in Houston. Then, on June 23, they are back in Houston for a match against Uzbekistan.
On June 27, Ronaldo and Portugal will face Colombia in a highly anticipated and high-priced 7:30 p.m. match at Hard Rock Stadium (renamed Miami Stadium during the tournament).
That game is the most sought-after group stage ticket in the entire tournament with resale tickets going from $1,800 to $80,000 for a VIP suite. It is a hot ticket because global superstar Ronaldo, who turned 41 on Thursday, has 668 million Instagram followers, is captain of the Portuguese team and has said this World Cup will be his last.
Also, Colombia’s national team, nicknamed “Los Cafeteros” (the coffee makers) has an extremely passionate following and South Florida is home to nearly 240,000 Colombians.
Sometime in the next few weeks, FIFA is expected to announce the 48 team base camps. Among the teams whose camps have already been made public: South Korea (Guadalajara, Mexico), Germany (Winston-Salem, North Carolina, training at Wake Forest University), Spain (Chattanooga, Tennessee, training at Baylor School), Uruguay (Playa del Carmen, Mexico), France (Boston, training at Babson College), Colombia (Guadalajara, Mexico), and Croatia (Alexandria, Virginia, training at Episcopal High School).
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 12:36 AM.