England's decision to base themselves in Kansas City during the 2026 World Cup has resulted in them travelling considerably further than any of the other seven quarter-finalists, a factor that could affect their performance as the tournament progresses. The Football Association opted for the central location on the reasoning that it would keep individual flights shorter, but because none of England's matches were actually scheduled there, the team has faced lengthy round trips for every single fixture. The article suggests this accumulated travel burden may be a greater concern than the much-discussed challenge of playing at altitude against Mexico.

Across their first five games, England have averaged round trips of roughly 1,842 miles — comparable to flying from London to Lisbon and back each time — with journeys to Foxborough, East Rutherford and Mexico City each exceeding 1,100 miles one way. Their average round trip alone exceeds France's total tournament travel, and they have logged over 3,000 miles more than Saturday's opponents, Norway. By contrast, some sides planned more shrewdly: Belgium's Renton base sits around 10 miles from their Seattle knockout venue, while Argentina's Kansas City base has hosted both their opener and quarter-final. The piece notes that England, having expected to top their group, could have chosen a base such as Atlanta to cut down their mileage, though it acknowledges the disadvantage of extra travel is hard to quantify.