US fans celebrate the German team
“This only happens once in a lifetime”
Updated June 9, 2026 – 3:00 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
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Thousands of fans attended the DFB team’s first training session in Winston-Salem. It quickly becomes clear: the visit of the German team is something very special, especially for the locals.
William Laing reports from the DFB team headquarters in Winston-Salem
The Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, USA, has a capacity of 3,000. By 6 p.m. local time on Monday evening, every single one of them was occupied. Not because the college football team normally based here, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, was playing a home game. A public training session took place in the small stadium at Wake Forest University at around 30 degrees Celsius – the first for the German national team in its team base camp for the 2026 World Cup.
After national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s selection spent Sunday in Chicago following their last test match on Saturday against co-hosts USA (2-1), they traveled to North Carolina at the beginning of the week. Here the German team, which is housed in the luxurious Graylyn Estate not far from the university campus, wants to prepare for the group phase of the largest World Cup in history. In this project – which became clear on Monday – the DFB entourage can count on a lot of local support.
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In the golf cart: Nagelsmann whizzes past the waiting crowd
The arrival of the stars around Manuel Neuer, who was taking part in team training for the first time again, thrilled many American fans in Winston-Salem on Monday. When national coach Julian Nagelsmann drove across campus in a golf cart with his assistant Benjamin Glück in the passenger seat around an hour before the session began, a line hundreds of meters long had already formed in front of the Spry Stadium. Numerous football enthusiasts couldn’t wait to see the players.
They didn’t have to pay admission. But: Only those who had gotten one of the very limited tickets for the event were allowed in. In the meantime it was heard that significantly more tickets could have been allocated than for the 3,000 places.
Once past the security check, a surprise awaited the fans. They received free merchandise from the DFB. The team photos and DFB jerseys with the imprint “Winston-Salem 26” were particularly popular. After the 45-minute session, the fan paraphernalia that was handed out had to be used for numerous autograph requests. The DFB stars had their hands full.