To KC’s wannabe 2026 World Cup volunteers: Check your email. Offers are going out
Olé, olé, hooray. The wait is all but over.
Not only does Kansas City now know which national teams — Argentina, England and The Netherlands — will make Kansas City their base camps for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but as of this week some 6,000 volunteers for the games will begin finding out if they, too, have made the cut.
So start checking your emails.
“Role offers are starting to go out,” starting this week, a KC2026 spokesperson said Thursday.
If nothing pops up right away. Don’t panic. “This process will continue for several weeks,” the spokesperson said.
Selection for volunteers in Kansas City has been competitive. About 16,000 people applied to volunteer in Kansas City during the tournament, which is scheduled to run from June 11 to July 19. Tryouts were held from Nov. 18 through Jan. 24.
Some 6,000 volunteers are to be selected.
“Volunteers are essential to the success of the tournament,” Lori Thomas, the director of volunteer operations for KC2026 said in November at the ribbon cutting of the Volunteer Center at Union Station. “They bring the spirit and diversity of Kansas City to life, as we want every community member to feel welcome.”
Sixteen cities — 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada — are hosting the FIFA 2026 World Cup matches. In the U.S, they are Kansas City, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. Mexican host cities are Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey. The Canadian cities are Toronto and Vancouver.
There are range of volunteer roles that include language services, wayfinding support, airport greeters, team services, media operations, hospitality and others.
FIFA reported receiving 1 million volunteer applications for the tournament.
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 3:09 PM.
