The World Is Coming to Marietta: Uzbekistan Sets Up World Cup Base Camp at Atlanta United Training Ground
- Jason Longshore
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
The FIFA World Cup is three weeks away, and Atlanta is preparing to host the world, in many different ways.
Atlanta United announced today that the Uzbekistan National Team will use the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground as its official base camp for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The White Wolves, making their first-ever World Cup appearance, are scheduled to arrive on June 10, one day before the tournament kicks off. They will be managed throughout by FIFA World Cup winner and Ballon d'Or recipient Fabio Cannavaro.
The partnership puts one of the game's great coaching minds inside an Atlanta United facility for the better part of a month, and it signals something bigger than a simple logistical arrangement. It is a statement about what this training ground has become.
How the Match Was Made
The process that brought Uzbekistan to Marietta started well before anyone had even filled out a bracket. FIFA established a baseline of requirements for any facility to be eligible as an official base camp, then compiled those that qualified into a brochure distributed to all federations in 2025. What followed was, as Atlanta United SVP of Strategy Dimitrios Efstathiou described it, essentially a college tour.
"Federations would start to come visit the different base camps to see if it would suit their needs," Efstathiou said. "It started in the fall and ended in January of this year."
Each federation ranked its preferences, going at least five deep. FIFA then matched teams to facilities. Federations could accept the match or go elsewhere at their own risk, with FIFA reimbursing up to a capped amount. Germany, for example, chose to go to Wake Forest entirely outside the FIFA framework.
Between October 2025 and January 2026, more than a dozen federations visited the Marietta campus. Nearly every team playing group stage matches in Atlanta came by, some of them twice, others three times. A significant number of European and Asian teams not playing in Atlanta visited as well.
What Uzbekistan Is Getting
The specific area of the training ground rented and assigned to Uzbekistan covers a defined footprint. That includes natural grass pitches three and four, one of which is the show pitch with roughly 2,500 seats. Both pitches have been fully resodded with thick-cut Bermuda grass and are FIFA certified, meaning they meet the standard for an official sanctioned match.
The full training pavilion is included, with its two locker rooms and the meeting space overlooking the fields. The newer development training area, part of the $25 million expansion that opened in September 2025, is also part of the package. That expansion includes a full-size gym, a full treatment room, a hydrotherapy room, and open-plan office space for roughly 40 people.
Atlanta United Continues Uninterrupted
One of the things Efstathiou is most proud of is that the entire arrangement was designed so the club does not miss a beat.
Atlanta United's first team returns from the summer break on June 16, six days after Uzbekistan arrives. From that point forward, both programs will operate simultaneously on the same 33-acre campus with no interference. Atlanta United players will train on their fields in the morning. They will use their locker rooms, eat in their cafeteria, and have access to their gym. Nothing changes.
"That was extremely important to us that the priority of this facility is always to serve United," Efstathiou said.
The key is the expansion. The development area was built intentionally to create separation between the first team and the academy, both for the sanctity of the first team environment and for Safe Sport compliance involving minors. That same design logic is exactly what makes hosting a World Cup side possible without disruption.
Uzbekistan, meanwhile, will not even be on the same training schedule. The Uzbek players are observant Muslims, and their morning prayers push training to later in the day when the heat in Atlanta in June makes outdoor sessions impractical. The coaching staff determined the best window is late afternoon to evening, roughly 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Efstathiou described that detail as one of his favorite things about the whole arrangement.
"I find it really cool that the sport can bring two totally different cultures to play the same sport, but the way they engage with the sport is specific to their culture," he said. "We are bringing the world into our facility, into our club. It's awesome."
Cannavaro and the White Wolves
Uzbekistan qualified for this World Cup with the second-best record in the Asian confederation, and they did it convincingly. This is not a team that snuck through the playoffs. Under Cannavaro's leadership, a program that had not historically been regarded as competitive in Asia has become one of the continent's genuine forces.
Efstathiou had a personal moment when the base camp relationship began to take shape. When Uzbekistan's team manager sent over an extensive list of requests, he prepared for a tough negotiating call. Then he got on the Zoom and found Cannavaro himself at the other end.
"I turn into little schoolboy fanboy Dimitrios," he said, laughing. "I'm like, hello, mister Cannavaro. Such an honor to meet you. Tell me, what do you need? I'll get it."
He was kidding, mostly. But the point stands. Cannavaro is a World Cup winner, a Ballon d'Or recipient, and a rare figure in the game. Watching him build a winning program from the ground up in Uzbekistan adds another chapter to a remarkable career.
What This Means for Atlanta
Uzbekistan plays three group stage matches, including one in Atlanta on June 27 against DR Congo. If they advance, that could extend the relationship through July 1.
But the significance is bigger than the schedule. Major figures in the sport from all over the world are coming to Atlanta already. Former Barcelona manager Carles Puyol was at the facility just this past weekend with the FIFA World Cup trophy. His reaction, as Efstathiou described it, was one of genuine surprise at the quality.
"He's like, I didn't know. This is quality. I come from Barcelona. This beats most places in La Liga."
That is the word of mouth Atlanta United is banking on. Cannavaro talking about it over dinner in Torino. World Cup players from around the globe carrying the story back home. The facility has reached a level where it can generate that kind of conversation, and now the world's biggest tournament is going to prove it.
"It puts us in the conversation as an elite soccer center," Efstathiou said. "Football is here in Atlanta. This is elite level stuff."
He's right. And starting June 10, the whole world gets to see it.
Uzbekistan opens group stage play on June 15. Their Atlanta match against DR Congo is June 27.