London to Lisbon and back every game: England rack up the World Cup miles
England have been happy with their Kansas City base but it has led to them travelling more than the other quarter-finalists – here’s just how much more
Much was made of the challenge England faced by playing Mexico at altitude in the Azteca Stadium. The greater concern might be the enormous cumulative distance the team has travelled at the World Cup. It is far greater than any of their rivals.
The Football Association chose to base England in Kansas City, even though the team were not scheduled to play any of their matches there. They reasoned that a central location would limit the length of flights the players had to take for any of their fixtures. But it has also ensured they have made round trips of at least 670 miles for every game, if we keep things simple by measuring straight lines between the cities of their base camp and match venues.
