Watch Team England players trade soccer for darts at team’s World Cup media center
With four national teams setting up base camps and six matches planned at Arrowhead Stadium, the expectation was that the World Cup would be easy to spot all around Kansas City.
But who could have expected that would include the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Administration Building? And yet, a large room had a decidedly English soccer look to it. With a dedicated press corps covering the team, the Football Association provided a swanky workroom for reporters (including those in Kansas City).
What could reporters from England want? How about a dartboard, for starters. A couple of big televisions showed the end of the Netherlands-Japan match Sunday afternoon. And cookies from McLain’s bakery were decorated with WC26 and the team’s “Three Lions” log.
The FA also contracted a local coffeehouse, Fika Coffee, to provide hot and cold drinks for the media.
There are individual media rooms and, of course, a stage for the news conferences that will take place after the team trains at Swope Soccer Village.
The dartboard isn’t just for the media. Ahead of a news conference on Sunday, two of England’s goalkeepers, Jordan Henderson and James Trafford, played a quick game against Alex Howell of the BBC. It was a fun moment following training.
Howell said Trafford is the team’s best darts player and he’ll challenge a media member at every news conference.
Inside England’s media center
The media center has some cool decorations. That “Three Lions” logo is all over the space, which hosted about 50 people on Sunday. And there are five “origin” drawings that depict the players as young kids looking in the mirror and seeing them in uniforms.
Reporters from England said this is a typical setup for the press covering the England men’s national team.
It’s just another example of a transformation of a part of Kansas City that was made for the 2026 World Cup. But this one is mostly hidden from sight.
Take a look at how part of the Parks and Recreation building was changed.
