With 2 games remaining, here’s Kansas City’s World Cup experience by the numbers
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Two World Cup games remain, after four have been played.
- Total attendance so far is 201,262, with fans from 131 nations.
- KC Streetcar carried 409,670 passengers from June 11–28, peaking at 48,260 on June 27.
Kansas City is in the home stretch of its duties as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Four games have been played, two remain: the tournament’s final round-of-32 game between Colombia and Ghana on July 3, and the last quarterfinal on July 11.
So, how is the smallest among the 11 U.S. host cities doing?
KC2026 released a progress report Wednesday, primarily focused on fan activity. Will the area reach projections of 650,000 fans, 2.1 million visitor days and more than $600,000 million in economic activity?
Here’s what the numbers say:
Fan Fest
The number of attendees is 201,262, and that’s with a couple of events that were suspended by stormy weather. Registration shows that 54% have been from Kansas City, 33% from outside the region and 13% are international visitors, representing more than 150 countries.
Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina have provided the most visitors from outside the U.S., a number that’s sure to grow with Colombia playing at least one game in Kansas City — two if Colombia wins on Friday — and perhaps Argentina in the quarterfinal.
What have fans here consumed? Beers sold: 17,051; soda: 13,387; margaritas: 7,793.
Six Fan Fest days remain: July, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11.
Transportation
ConnectKC26 has taken 88,771 fans to games through Stadium Direct; 34,037 to Fan Fest through Region Direct and 19,214 to MCI through Airport Direct.
Some 31% of the riders have been local, 56% from outside the region and 13% have been from outside the U.S.
Kansas City brought in more than 200 buses to create the system and handle the demand.
From June 11-28, the KC Streetcar has transported 409,670 passengers, and set a one-day record of 48,260 on June 27.
MCI screened 23,500 passengers through the security are on June 17, the day after the Argentina-Algeria game, the second-busiest day in the airport’s history.
Game attendance
The four games have averaged 68,770 with Argentina-Algeria and Algeria-Austria called sellouts.
Among the fans attending the games: King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and Ambassadors to the U.S., Alejandro Carlos Oxenford of Argentina; and Algeria’s Sabri Boukadoum; Austria’s Petra Schneebauer; and Andrew Giullani, Executive Director, White House task force for the World Cup.
Fans from 131 nations attended the games. The top countries represented are: Ecuador, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, England,Colombia, Germany and Austria.
Other numbers
More than 17,000 Bank of America fan bands have been distributed at Fan Fest, and more than 2,100 dogs have attended Purina Dog Days.
Volunteer “show rate”: 95%, with 2,439 volunteers working the games at Arrowhead.
Media credentials issued: 1,580.
Some 6,500 visitors turned out for Olathe’s Fourth Friday watch party on June 26.
More than 4,500 attended three days of Football Fridays in Lee’s Summit.
The Dutch supporters’ “Orange FanWalk” on June 25 attracted an estimated 36,000.