The Soccer Capital of America Is Now the Soccer Capital of the World

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Of the 11 U.S.

metropolitan areas hosting the World Cup this summer, Kansas City is easily the smallest.But it’s punching above its weight in this tournament. Four teams chose to make the region their home away from home during the tournament, and the Netherlands and Argentina are playing group stage games here.

Kansas City is no stranger to soccer. The city calls itself the “Soccer Capital of America,” a phrase trademarked by MLS’s Sporting Kansas City a decade ago. Its NWSL team, the KC Current, opened the first U.

S. stadium built for a women’s professional sports team in 2024. Even the titular character from the beloved soccer show Ted Lasso, and the actor who portrays him, are from the area.

The city held its first match of the tournament between Argentina and Algeria on Tuesday night. Lionel Messi scored his first World Cup hat trick at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium, a historic feat in a venue that will soon be abandoned as the NFL team moves across state lines to a $3 billion dome.Base Camp CapitalFour teams chose Kansas City for their base camp: Argentina, England, the Netherlands—three of the world’s best teams—and Algeria.

The Dutch are at the training center of the NWSL’s KC Current. The Argentines went to Sporting KC’s training center. Algeria chose the University of Kansas, about a 45-minute drive from downtown in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kramer says she got a call that England wanted to go outside FIFA’s official list to stay in Kansas City. The team is based at Swope Soccer Village, a facility owned by the city and managed by Sporting KC.The Current have been on a building boom, and team owner Chris Long told Front Office Sports the team got involved in the World Cup bidding process early in its own construction process.

He says the team toured FIFA shortly after breaking ground on the training facility, and sent stadium renderings to FIFA and Concacaf to let them know what would be coming. He said about a dozen teams toured the facility for a