Key findings at a glance
The research aimed to uncover just how far teams are having to travel to complete their group-stage campaign at the 2026 FIFA World Cup by measuring the round-trip distance from their team hotel.
With a base in Mexico City, El Tri have a total round-trip distance of just 1,007.2km (626 miles) to travel through their three Group A fixtures against South Africa, South Korea and Czech Republic. That distance is at least 23.2km (14.2 miles) less than any of the other 47 competing nations across the United States, Canada and Mexico during this summer’s three group stage games.
Elsewhere, Mauricio Pochettino’s United States face collective journeys of 3,441.6km (2,139 miles) to travel between their base in Irvine, California and games in Inglewood and Seattle. That group stage travel burden means that 14 other teams will be travelling less distance than the USMNT over the course of the group stage.
Canada, meanwhile, have a total of 6,742.2km (4,178 miles) to travel during the group stage – only 12 teams at the tournament will travel further. The bulk of Canada’s travel comes in the round trip from their base in Vancouver to their opening game in Toronto against Bosnia-Herzegovina. The 6,715.4km (4,172.8 miles) round trip is the longest individual journey for any team at the competition.
The United States’ longest journey comes on matchday two, in which they travel to Seattle to face Australia, with a trip clocking in at 3,189.6km (1,982 miles). Mexico’s longest round trip, in comparison, is 957.2km (594.8 miles), coming in their second group game as they face South Korea in Guadalajara.
Key Findings
- Mexico have the shortest travel burden of any team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, travelling a collective distance of 1,007.2km (626 miles) for all three matches.
- Only 12 teams at the World Cup will travel further than Canada during the group stage.
- United States have round-trips totalling 3,441.6km (2,139 miles), which is the 15th-shortest total distance.
- Canada must face the longest single journey at the competition when they travel to Toronto to face Bosnia & Herzegovina for their opening match.
- One of the tournament favourites England have the fourth-furthest distance to travel in the group stage, covering 8,979.2km (5,579.4 miles).
- France, in comparison, have the seventh-shortest distance to cover.
With Canada set to face one of the toughest travel schedules at the tournament, bettors will be keeping a close eye on whether the fatigue factor plays a role in their group stage results. You can keep up with all the latest Canada World Cup odds as the tournament approaches, and browse the full range of 2026 FIFA World Cup odds across every group and nation competing this summer.
Full data · Group stage
2026 World Cup Jetlag Table
Total round-trip distance from team base across all three group stage fixtures, ranked shortest to longest.
| Pos | Team | Group stage travel (km) | Group stage travel (miles) |
|---|
Full data · Individual games
2026 World Cup Longest Journeys
Each team’s single longest round-trip from base to stadium, ranked longest to shortest.
| Pos | Team | Longest journey (round trip from base) | Longest journey (km) | Longest journey (miles) |
|---|
Methodology & Sources
- Each team’s distance was calculated by using as-the-crow-flies distances between their team hotel and the stadiums where they will play.
- For each game, a round trip distance was recorded on the assumption that the team will return to their base after each match.
- From that point, each total was added together for each respective team, giving the Jetlag Table.
- Team hotels: Al Jazira | Distances: FreeMapTools
