England’s wives and girlfriends will spend the World Cup based in Miami, almost 1,500 miles from the team’s main camp, with relatives only permitted to see players immediately after matches and overnight stays banned throughout the tournament.
The arrangement marks a significant shift from the scenes at Euro 2006 in Germany, when the WAGs famously took over Baden-Baden and became one of the major storylines of the tournament during the era of Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole. This time, England left their warm-weather training base in Florida on Saturday morning and flew to Kansas City, where they hope to remain for the next five weeks, while families stay behind in Miami.
Thomas Tuchel’s squad are staying at the Inn at Meadowbrook boutique hotel ahead of their World Cup opener against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday. The team’s Group L campaign will then take them to Boston to face Ghana on 23 June, before a final group match against Panama in New Jersey on 27 June, as England look to end 60 years of hurt and win the World Cup for the first time since 1966, with hopes of the campaign culminating in the final on 19 July.
Given the demanding schedule, which could see England play five matches in just 17 days, relatives have been banned from staying overnight with players. Miami is understood to have been chosen as a base in part due to its proximity to family-friendly attractions such as Florida’s Disney World, giving WAGs plenty to occupy their time during the tournament.
The families were able to spend time with players during the team’s warm-up camp in West Palm Beach, including a day-and-a-half off following Thursday’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Miami FC, which England won 6-0. That followed a storm-delayed 3-0 win over Costa Rica in Orlando last Wednesday, and a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Tampa on 6 June.
Among those who have travelled to the US are Ollie Watkins’s wife Ellie Watkins, Jude Bellingham’s partner Ashlyn Castro, and Bukayo Saka’s fiancée Tolami Benson. Saka and Benson, who announced their engagement last November, visited New York City earlier this month for the premiere of his documentary “The Time Is Now.” Marc Guéhi and Tino Livramento have also spent time with loved ones during the camp, while Dan Burn revealed he visited Disney World with his family before training began. Around half of the England squad currently have relatives or partners in the United States, with more expected to travel out should the team progress through the tournament.
The arrangements follow a similar approach at the previous World Cup in Qatar, where players’ families were based in Dubai in December 2022, with some reportedly staying in hotel rooms aboard cruise ships moored outside Doha. It marks a further departure from 2006, when the WAGs became notorious for turning England’s base into what was widely described as a celebrity circus, marked by lavish spending, heavy drinking and nightly partying.
