The University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium will serve as the training ground for the New Zealand men’s national soccer team as it prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off June 11 in Mexico City.
The All Whites, as they are commonly referred to, chose San Diego after a meticulous and time-consuming process which involved researching venues in multiple sites along the West Coast.
“We went to the draw in early December and then myself and Ken Lynch went around looking at a lot of base camps, training grounds and hotels,” said head coach Darren Bazeley, referring to Lynch, a team consultant. “San Diego was high up on our wanted list and we got it. It’s somewhere we’re really comfortable going to and somewhere we really wanted to be.”
New Zealand also considered setting up camp in Portland, Seattle, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Irvine and Vancouver (which already had been selected by the Canadian national team).
Under FIFA guidelines, the designated base camps for each national team are contingent on their assigned cluster. The All Whites are in the western cluster.
If two countries want the same venue, the selection goes to highest ranked team. New Zealand would not have won any of those head-to-heads – the squad is currently ranked 86th, the lowest of all World Cup participants.
“It was important that we got a good training ground and a good hotel that gave us the sort of spaces in the hotel that we needed,” Bazeley added. USD, for instance, has an exclusive partnership with Bartell Hotels which operates eight properties, all located close to Torero Stadium.
It is still to be determined if the All Whites will hold any open practices that San Diego soccer fans can attend or when those dates would be.
New Zealand’s most notable players include, stateside, Minnesota United defender Michael Boxall and Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman, and abroad, Nottingham Forrest forward Chris Wood and Wrexham defender Liberato Cacace.
New Zealand has fond memories and associations with San Diego. The country defeated the United States 5-0 to win the 29th edition of the America’s Cup, held off the coast of Point Loma in May 1995.
More recently, a rugby team, the Legion, set up shop in San Diego as an expansion club for Major League Rugby. Star Ma’a Nonu, who played for New Zealand’s rugby team, the All Blacks, logged time with the Legion, which played most of its seasons at Torero Stadium (the team merged with the Los Angeles club and is now known as the California Legion).
“It’s great to connect with something. I think wherever we go we are always looking for where’s the Kiwi story here,” said Bazeley. “We do that with people and with places. I like to go somewhere that has got some connection to New Zealand in a sporting moment.”
