Road to the World Cup 2026: UCFB student looks back on once-in-a-lifetime Miami experience

As UCFB students return from their incredible Road to the World Cup 2026 visit to Miami, one looks back on her time in Florida.

Aimee-Lou Caldecourt was one of the 150 UCFB students who travelled to the United States to get an insight into the North American sports industry ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, being held in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Here’s what she had to say…

From finding out I was going to Miami in February to actually being here in September is so unbelievably surreal.

The Road to the World Cup Miami Experience has been nothing short of unforgettable from the moment I stepped foot into Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning.

After a 10-hour flight, we stepped foot out of Miami International Airport into an awfully muggy, 30-degree afternoon. After using Thursday night to settle in, it was full throttle into Friday.

We started with a short walk to the Chase Stadium, home of Inter Miami CF, to hear from Jennifer Roche and her colleague Kenan Jean about their roles as part of the host city committee for the seven matches in which the city of Miami will host.

Roche spoke about her role as the Director of Community and Legacy and how she is creating a long-lasting impact on the city as a result of hosting. The three main pillars for Miami in particular being:

1.Access to Fútbol
2.Sustainability
3.Community

We were able to see “Sustainability” in action the next day where there was a beach clean-up around Miami.

They continued to explain their marketing and fundraising processes as to create the best atmosphere possible, the committee needs to raise $120m from sponsors and donors.

With $45m of that going to ensuring the safety and security of all 700,000 expected visitors into the city for the duration of the tournament.

We wrapped this talk up with a stadium tour from Catherine Garrido which was incredibly insightful about the history of the stadium and the plans for the future with Inter Miami moving to the Miami Freedom Park soon.

After the morning at Chase Stadium, we hopped on the bus and headed south towards the Hard Rock Stadium, belonging to the Miami Dolphins as well as many different major sporting events such as the Formula One, the Miami Open, and college football in Miami Hurricanes.

Here we heard from UCFB graduate Shanna Ellis and her rise from being an undergraduate, where I am now, to her now being Competitions Operations at FIFA working on the most recent Club World Cup and now the World Cup.

Here is where I felt the most inspired of the sessions as I could visualise myself being in top roles at top companies in my chosen field.

So really a massive thank you to Shana for helping me start to envision my future!

A final speaker in Edward Roger in Stadium Operations at the Hard Rock Stadium where he spoke about all the steps that he took to lead him to where he is now, including the start-up of Inter Miami during and post-Covid which had taught valuable skills which he had been able to apply to a larger stadium.

As well as this he spoke about how fun but chaotic the stadium itself is as it hosts so many different events all year round.

Saturday will be a day I will remember for a very long time.

We started with some free time and a couple of us headed to Fort Lauderdale beach and spent some time therebefore heading for some food in Las Olas while watching Man United vs Chelsea (of course).

The evening took us back to Chase Stadium where we would watch Inter Miami defeat DC United in a thrilling second half.

Just being able to see Messi play live and score twice is a bucket list moment and genuinely will be unforgettable.

Standing with the “La Familia” was the most incredible experience ever, they brought the noise for the whole 90 minutes without fail and they really changed the atmosphere in the stadium.

The passion they have for the club is mind-blowing and watching the MLS in person for the first time was such a unique experience.