Why Clark Hunt & Cliff Illig say KC has proven itself a worthy FIFA World Cup host
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hunt and Illig said Kansas City delivered and proved up to the challenge.
- Organizers said safety, transit, volunteers, FanFest, and packed Arrowhead were successes.
- Hunt said hosting and team base camps changed perceptions, putting Kansas City on the map.
Four years ago, Clark Hunt and Cliff Illig embraced at the watch party when Kansas City was announced as a FIFA World Cup host city for 2026.
On the eve of the final game to be played at Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium in this World Cup — a quarterfinal match between Argentina and Switzerland on Saturday night — the principal owners of the Chiefs and Sporting KC, respectively, took a victory lap.
“This was our moment on the international stage,” Hunt said alongside fellow honorary World Cup co-chair Illig at a KC2026 news conference, “and we’ve not missed seizing that moment.”
Some of the benchmarks for measuring the region’s success won’t be available until after the tournament, but to Hunt and Illig, Kansas City delivered. From safety and security, transportation, its volunteer network, FanFest at the World War I Museum and Memorial and the countless other details required to stage the world’s biggest sporting event, the smallest U.S. market to host games proved up to the challenge.
“Kansas City has always felt like it had a lot to prove,” Illig said. “And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of proving it through the way we’ve hosted, the way that we produced the games and the experiences that everyone’s had.”
Those experiences extend beyond the games, which have packed Arrowhead with the colors of the participating teams. The “Oranje FanWalk” was a highlight, with 36,000 orange-clad fans celebrating with Dutch supporters down Grand Blvd.
Televised games at the FIFA FanFest and in the Power & Light District attracted legions of revelers, especially those rooting on the teams from the U.S. and Mexico.
“The fans that came from someplace else, they brought a lot of energy,” Illig said. “And I think Kansas City did a pretty good job picking up on that energy and reflecting it back at them.”
Kansas City was an unsuccessful candidate for World Cup games in 1994, the last time the event was held in the U.S. Hunt believes it won’t be another three decades before America again lands the quadrennial event.
“First of all, we were disappointed that it took 32 years to get the World Cup back,” Hunt said. “I would bet that it’s much sooner than 32 years before we see it back in the U.S.”
Hunt, whose interest in soccer originated with his father, Lamar — founder of the Chiefs and AFL and a major contributor to the growth of American soccer — has attended 12 World Cups. He’s been to eight games in this year’s event, and the Argentina-Switzerland match will be the second he’s attended in Kansas City.
He believes the region’s success in staging these games — and playing host to base camps for the national team from Argentina, England, the Netherlands and Algeria — will alter perceptions of Kansas City.
“This is no longer flyover country,” Hunt said. “Kansas City is on the map nationally and internationally. Those of us here have understood that for a long time. A lot of great things happen here in Kansas City.
“We just now had a chance to show the rest of the world what a special place this is, and people from all over the world will be talking about Kansas City for decades to come.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 6:02 PM.