Players on Ivory Coast react after an own goal in a game during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics against Saudi Arabia at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, on July 22, 2021.
Mandi Wright-USA TODAY Network
Ivory Coast will call Philadelphia home for this summer’s World Cup, with the Union and Philadelphia Soccer 2026 announcing on Tuesday that the African nation will have its base camp in Chester.
The team will use the Union’s facilities in Chester to practice and prepare for its World Cup Group E games, two of which will be at Lincoln Financial Field. The team will be housed in Wilmington, Delaware. (The original bid paired Chester with the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, though the release doesn’t specify the team hotel.)
Ivory Coast and the other 47 nations taking part in the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada have 64 potential training sites to choose from as their “team base camps.” Much like hosts for games, areas submitted bids to FIFA, and FIFA consulted with national teams to place them at locations that fit the country’s criteria with regard to travel, convenience, etc. The base camp will be where the team lives and trains before and between games and the location for its training and support staff.
Ivory Coast will open the World Cup in Philadelphia on June 14 against Ecuador. It travels to Toronto June 20 to face Germany, then returns to Philadelphia to wrap up the group stage against Curacao on June 25. Those are two of six games the Linc will host this summer.
“When one of France’s all-time great defenders and a 1998 FIFA World Cup champion in Marcel Desailly says the Côte d’Ivoire has what it takes to reach the last four of this tournament, it’s easy to understand why the Côte d’Ivoire Federation would select such an elite Team Base Camp in the Philadelphia Union’s Stadium,” Meg Kane, the Host City Executive and CEO of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, said in a press release. “Côte d’Ivoire was one of two unbeaten group winners that did not concede a goal in its 10 outings during qualifying.
“This is a team to be reckoned with in the FIFA World Cup 2026 and Philadelphia, Chester, and our entire region love a team to be reckoned with. We welcome Les Éléphants to Philadelphia Union’s stadium as their home away from home and promise to show them the best of what we have to offer during their time here this summer.”
The winner of Group E would play its Round of 32 game in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Group E runner-up heads to Arlington, Texas.
Ivory Coast is returning to the World Cup for the first time since 2014. The West African nation made it to three straight World Cups in 2006, 2010 and 2014, winning one game and exiting in the group stage in each. It didn’t qualify in 2018 and 2022.
The country is a three-time Africa Cup of Nations winner, including in 1992 when the team was in the midst of a civil war. It last won the tournament in 2023-24. It lost in this year’s tournament to Egypt in the quarterfinals.
Ivory Coast has two friendlies scheduled in the March international window against South Korea and Scotland. It will likely play at least one game as a tune-up ahead of the World Cup in North America, possibly at Subaru Park.
Les Éléphants are captained by former AC Milan and Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie. Their national team pool includes former Manchester United forward and current Charlotte FC player Wilfried Zaha, Nottingham Forest’s Ibrahim Sangare and Premier League forwards Amad Diallo (Man U) and Evann Guessand (Aston Villa) as well as Atlanta United’s Emmanuel Latte Lath.
The Union will be away from the facility with MLS taking an almost six-week break for the World Cup.
“Hosting Côte d’Ivoire on our campus is a tremendous honor for the Philadelphia Union and our entire region,” team president Tim McDermott said. “We’ve built one of the most unique sports campuses in North America specifically to support and develop world-class soccer, and there’s no better validation of that vision than welcoming recent African champions to train here. From Chester to Wilmington to Philadelphia, this is an incredible opportunity to showcase the passion, hospitality, and excellence of our facilities and our soccer community on the global stage.”
Base camp locations are governed by FIFA and have been revealed piecemeal in recent weeks. One other potential location is available in the region, with Stockton University in Galloway, N.J., with lodging at the Sheraton Atlantic City. Stockton hosted Brazilian club Flamengo last summer for the FIFA Club World Cup.