The Netherlands’ World Cup team opted for a quiet arrival in Kansas City Tuesday
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Netherlands landed at downtown Kansas City by KLM just after 12:40 p.m.
- The Dutch team received the least fanfare of the World Cup squads in Kansas City so far.
- Seventh-ranked Netherlands begin their World Cup campaign in Kansas City before Texas.
The Netherlands men’s national soccer team has arrived in Kansas City for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the third of four teams whose centers of operations will be based in the Kansas City area for the duration of the quadrennial tournament.
The Dutch arrived just after 12:40 p.m. Tuesday at Kansas City’s downtown airport on a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines plane. They were met with the least fanfare of the World Cup teams based in Kansas City so far.
Argentina, the defending champion, had fans waiting around Kansas City International Airport upon arrival more than a week ago. The Argentines were also met with a large, waiting crowd at their hotel, Origin Hotel Kansas City; Argentina fans now await the team’s return from playing Iceland in a Tuesday evening exhibition match in Alabama.
The Algeria contingent, meanwhile, arrived to thousands of fans combined at KCI and Lawrence early Monday morning. The Algerian national team is making its base camp for the World Cup in Lawrence and will train at Rock Chalk Park in preparation.
The illustrious Dutch fan base is planning to be in Kansas City once their team’s matches get underway. They have a fan march scheduled ahead of their last group-state match, against Tunisia, on June 25.
But the fan base is evidently not in KC yet, as the famously orange-clad national team chose the private downtown airport as its landing zone. The team’s police escort took them to the Cascade Hotel on the Country Club Plaza, where media and passersby made up most of the small crowd that greeted them.
Some onlookers wandering past asked what all the fuss was about. Ardent soccer fans know, and Kansas Citians who don’t will soon come to learn, that The Netherlands boasts one of the best teams in the world. And with that comes high expectations.
The Dutch heyday came during the 1970s during the days of legendary player Johan Cruyff. The Netherlands was runner-up in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. The Dutch were runners-up once more in 2010, and in 2022 the Netherlands eliminated the U.S. in the first round of knockout matches.
Led by veteran manager and former national team star Ronal Koeman, this Netherlands roster is sprinkled with such stars all-time leading national team scorer Memphis Depay, Liverpool standouts Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk and Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
The Netherlands currently ranks No. 7 in FIFA’s world rankings and will continue its long pursuit for a first World Cup title. The team’s 2026 FIFA World Cup journey begins in Kansas City and will include games against Japan in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, June 14 and Sweden in Houston on June 20.
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 4:54 PM.
