The World Cup Is Actually Here: What a Summer of USMNT at the Great Park Feels Like
The Great Park World Cup 2026 moment everyone in Irvine talked about for two years is no longer a press release — it's happening right now, a few minutes from my front door. The U.S. Men's National Team is training at the Great Park Sports Complex through the tournament, the World Cup itself kicked off June 11, and the U.S. opened with a 4-1 win over Paraguay on June 12. If you live in or around the Great Park this summer, you're not reading about the World Cup. You're inside the neighborhood hosting part of it.
I've watched this corner of Irvine go from El Toro runways to bulldozers to something genuinely special, and I'll admit the last couple of weeks have been a different kind of fun. So instead of recapping the base-camp announcement again, here's the on-the-ground version: what a World Cup summer actually feels like out here, and why it matters even if you couldn't care less about soccer.
What's happening at the Great Park right now?
The short version: the USMNT set up its World Cup base camp at the Great Park Sports Complex, the 194-acre sports hub on Great Park Boulevard that's normally home to weekend club tournaments and Orange County SC. On June 8, the team held an open training session at Championship Soccer Stadium — the 5,500-seat venue at 8272 Great Park Blvd — and the demand told the whole story: roughly 33,000 people requested tickets for 5,500 seats, awarded by lottery, for what was the only chance for the public to watch the team practice here during the tournament.
By all accounts the place was packed, loud, and full of kids watching head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the national team up close. Then the tournament started for real. The U.S. opened Group D play against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on June 12 and won 4-1, with Folarin Balogun scoring twice in the first half and Christian Pulisic running the show. From here, the U.S. faces Australia on June 19 in Seattle, then Turkiye on June 25 back at SoFi.
Why is the USMNT training in Irvine?
Because the Great Park Sports Complex is, frankly, built for this. It's one of the largest sports facilities of its kind in the country, with dozens of fields and courts and a stadium that already hosts professional soccer. When the national team evaluated where to base itself for a home World Cup, Irvine offered pro-grade fields, real infrastructure, and a location central to its early matches in Los Angeles. Players and staff publicly praised the facilities and the people — which, if you live here, is a nice thing to hear about your own backyard.
There's a civic angle too. The City of Irvine owns the complex, and hosting the U.S. team puts Irvine on a global stage it doesn't usually occupy. For a city that's spent more than a decade building the Great Park, this is the kind of validation money can't really buy.
What does a World Cup summer mean for Great Park buzz — and buyers?
Here's where I'll put my agent hat on. I don't want to overstate this: a World Cup doesn't change anyone's mortgage rate, and I'd never tell a client to buy a house because the national team practiced down the street. But attention is real, and Irvine is getting a lot of it this summer.
When buyers from out of the area — and there are plenty looking at Irvine right now — see the U.S. team basing itself at the Great Park, it reframes how they think about the neighborhood. It stops being "that new development by the old air base" and becomes "the place that hosted part of the World Cup." That kind of name recognition tends to stick. And the underlying reason the team is here is the same reason the neighborhoods are desirable: world-class public amenities, walkable to thousands of homes, that the city keeps investing in.
So no, I'm not pricing a World Cup premium into anyone's home. But if you already own near the Great Park, this is a summer where the rest of the country is finally seeing what you see every day. That's worth something, even if it's hard to put on an appraisal.
What it actually feels like out here
If you've driven Great Park Boulevard in the last two weeks, you've felt it — more flags, more jerseys, families heading to the complex, that low hum a place gets when something bigger than usual is going on. It's the same feeling I get finishing a long run out by the fields and realizing the U.S. National Team is warming up a quarter mile away. For all the talk about home values and amenities, sometimes a neighborhood is just a great place to be in a particular summer. This is one of those summers.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the USMNT training for the 2026 World Cup?
The U.S. Men's National Team is using the Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine as its base camp for the duration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with training centered at Championship Soccer Stadium, 8272 Great Park Blvd.
Can the public watch USMNT practice at the Great Park?
The team held one open training session on June 8 at Championship Soccer Stadium, with about 5,500 lottery-awarded tickets against roughly 33,000 requests. That was the only public practice viewing scheduled at the Great Park during the tournament.
When does the U.S. play at the 2026 World Cup?
The U.S. opened with a 4-1 win over Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on June 12, then faces Australia on June 19 in Seattle and Turkiye on June 25 at SoFi Stadium in the Group D stage.
How big is the Great Park Sports Complex?
It's a 194-acre sports hub owned by the City of Irvine, featuring dozens of fields and courts and the 5,500-seat Championship Soccer Stadium, normally home to Orange County SC.
Does hosting the World Cup base camp affect Irvine home values?
Not directly — a training site doesn't move prices. But it raises Irvine's national profile and reinforces the world-class public amenities that make the Great Park neighborhoods desirable over the long run.
Thinking about the Great Park?
Whether you're a soccer fan, a parent whose kids just watched the national team up close, or someone quietly wondering what it'd be like to live in the middle of all this, I'm happy to talk. I know these neighborhoods, the builders, and what's coming next out here — World Cup summer or not. If you're weighing a move in or around the Great Park, reach out anytime. No pressure, just a straight conversation — maybe over a coffee after the next match.