Uruguay confirms that its men’s national football team will be based in Playa del Carmen, in Mexico’s Quintana Roo state, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Uruguayan Football Association says the squad will stay at the Fairmont Mayakoba, with training sessions held at the nearby Mayakoba Training Centre, about 40 minutes from Cancún Airport.
The decision places Uruguay in Mexico despite two of its three Group H matches taking place in the United States. The team opens its campaign in Miami against Saudi Arabia on June 15 and Cape Verde on June 21, before flying back to Mexico to face Spain in Guadalajara on June 26.
Why Playa del Carmen won the base camp race
According to the association, Playa del Carmen emerged as the preferred option after an extensive review of potential base camps across North America. Competing locations included Tampa, Atlanta, Boca Raton and Austin, but the Riviera Maya resort town ranked highest across a wide range of performance and logistics criteria.
“After a comprehensive analysis, it (the base camp site) is the only one that matched all of the established criteri for the national team,” said AUF, Uruguayan Football Association, in a press release.
Officials point to the area’s infrastructure, high-end accommodation, logistical capacity and recovery facilities as decisive factors. Open spaces and a controlled working environment also weighed heavily in the final choice, even though the team will need to manage international flights during the group stage.
World Cup preparations take shape across North America
Uruguay is not alone in finalising its tournament base early. Several national teams have already confirmed where they will stay during the expanded 48-team World Cup, which kicks off on June 11 with Mexico v South Africa in Mexico City and concludes with the final on July 19 in the New York–New Jersey area.
Germany will be based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, while France has chosen Boston. Spain plans to stay in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Croatia in Alexandra, Virginia, and both South Korea and Colombia will operate from Guadalajara in Mexico.
For Uruguay, the decision also carries symbolic weight. The two-time World Cup winners lifted the trophy at the inaugural tournament in 1930 and again in 1950. The country is also set to host one match at the 2030 World Cup as part of the centenary celebrations marking 100 years since the competition began.
