World Cup 2026: England set for the open-air Miami heat – or do Norway hold the edge?

England’s initial base when arriving in the United States was, coincidentally, Florida.

Thomas Tuchel and his team spent 10 days in the area, playing warm-up games against New Zealand in Tampa and Costa Rica in Orlando.

The Three Lions then moved to their tournament facility in Kansas, where daily air temperatures are about 32-34C (90-93F).

That should help England cope with the heat.

Dr Lee Taylor from Loughborough University – a leading expert in elite athlete performance and the challenges of heat and altitude – told BBC Sport acclimatisation was crucial.

“That is the gold-standard method to protect players’ health and performance,” said Taylor.

“They’ve been getting those exposures into the players pretty consistently as they had two hot bases.

“So we’re fairly certain those players are acclimated. They haven’t been able to really test that in a game environment, but we’re not too concerned because we know they’ve acquired those physiological adaptations.”

Norway played their two warm-up matches against Sweden and Morocco in the cooler climes of Oslo and New Jersey respectively.

They are based in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they experiencing similar temperatures to the England squad.

“Norway have played four pretty warm games, and the one in New Jersey was particularly hot,” Taylor said.

“I’d probably rather have the scenario that England have evolved through, based on the fatigue the Norway players have acquired.”