The Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa will welcome the Turkish men’s national soccer team for a community day on Monday, June 8, offering fans an evening of cultural food, live music and family-friendly activities before the team’s scheduled training session later that night. Community events will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with a live practice set to follow from roughly 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. at the AAG Stadium Soccer Field.
Arizona Athletic Grounds entry plaza lit at dusk with 'WELCOME TO' signage — the complex hosting a community day and practice for the visiting Turkish national team.
Türkiye has selected the Mesa complex as its training base for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Turkish side will compete in Group D of the tournament, alongside the United States, Paraguay and Australia, and is scheduled to open its World Cup campaign against Australia on June 13 in Vancouver, Canada. The Mesa community day is positioned as an opportunity for local residents and visiting fans to engage with the team ahead of the global event.
An aerial layout of the sprawling facility shows the fields that will be used by the Turkish squad during their time in Mesa. The Arizona Athletic Grounds’ multi-field campus is designed to accommodate training activities and public events, and it will serve as the central site for the team’s preparations while they are based in Arizona.
Aerial view of Arizona Athletic Grounds showing rows of soccer fields where Türkiye will use the Mesa site as its 2026 World Cup training base.
Admission to the community day portion of the evening is free and does not require a ticket. The live practice that follows, however, is ticketed; organizers say those tickets have sold out. Visit Mesa announced an Instagram giveaway to distribute the remaining practice tickets. The giveaway opened at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 1, and closes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3. To enter, fans are required to follow the @VisitMesa, @AZGrounds and @CityofMesa accounts on Instagram and follow the instructions posted with the giveaway announcement. Winners will be informed via Instagram direct message on Wednesday afternoon.
The practice session, which will take place on the AAG Stadium Soccer Field after the community activities, will provide fans in attendance the chance to meet players, request autographs and take photographs. Organizers have framed the practice as a direct opportunity for personal interaction between supporters and members of the Turkish national team, subject to the access provided by ticket holders.
Food and cultural offerings are a prominent feature of the community day. Local vendor Güscht Döner Haus will provide a menu that includes traditional doner wraps and baklava, alongside Maras-style ice cream and live preparations of kunefe and kumpir. The event schedule lists live music from country band Campbell Blue Creek, children’s soccer activities hosted by Arizona Arsenal Soccer Club, and demonstrations of traditional Turkish Ebru art. In addition, the community day will feature booths selling handcrafted goods, jewelry and apparel from local artisans.
Organizers are promoting the evening as family-friendly and accessible, with the public invited for the free portion and the limited, ticketed practice offering closer engagement with the team. The Arizona Athletic Grounds site will operate under the published schedule for the evening’s activities, with practice to follow directly after the community program ends. Fans who entered the Instagram giveaway should monitor their direct messages for notification if they are selected to receive one of the remaining practice tickets.