Some of the best moments at the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City, from A to Z
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Argentina were the first team to make Kansas City their base camp and played twice there.
- Arrowhead Stadium hosted six matches including two knockout-round games.
- Ecuador and Colombia had huge turnouts in Kansas City with yellow widely dominant.
The World Cup concludes Sunday with a final match pitting Argentina against Spain, but what a ride it was — especially for Kansas City.
We saw six matches, including two knockout-round games, four base-camp teams, huge crowds at watch parties and players who got out and visited Kansas City. It was an amazing ride.
Here’s a look back at the fun we had, from A to Z:
A: Argentina
Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s World Cup final, what many people in Kansas City will remember most is Argentina’s stay. The defending World Cup champions were the first to arrive here to make a base camp, played twice and have some of the most passionate fans in the world.
B: Barbecue
Not only did visitors make a point of visiting the multitude of barbecue restaurants in Kansas City, but Team Argentina held multiple team cookouts, including one as tornado sirens wailed. Barbecue was a big part of their stay here.
C: Curaçao
An upset doesn’t necessarily require a team to win. We saw that with Curaçao, as goalkeeper Eloy Room had a historic World Cup night, making 15 saves in a scoreless draw against Ecuador. Curaçao is the smallest country ever to make the World Cup was assured of not going home with three losses because of that tie.
D: Drums
The soundtrack to many games were the drums at Kansas City Stadium (née Arrowhead). During a knockout stage game between Colombia and Ghana, fans of both teams were playing drums, and Argentina supporters had their bombos. Arrowhead sounded much different than during Chiefs games.
E: Ecuador
The Ecuadorians played to a scoreless tie with Curaçao, to the disgust of the yellow-clad fans who were at Kansas City Stadium for the second of six matches. Just the seventh-largest country in South America, Ecuador had a massive turnout of supporters in KC.
F: Fan Fest
The leaves won’t start changing for a few months, but the colors changed frequently at the National World War I Museum and Monument depending on what team was playing that day. USA Red, White and Blue, Colombia Yellow, Mexican Green and Argentine Blue were well-represented. More than 400,000 visited and many had their picture taken with the iconic big red heart that welcomed them.
G: Ghana
Fully one-third of the World Cup matches played in Kansas City featured African teams. That includes Ghana, which received a boisterous welcome to KC after arriving here for its Round-of-32 match against Colombia. The number Ghana’s supporters may not have matched Colombia’s, but the enthusiasm certainly did.
H: Hydration Breaks
Because of the expected warm temperatures for the World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, FIFA introduced hydration breaks roughly midway through each half. It was seen as a way for more television advertising and that’s exactly what happened, which is why fans booed inside Kansas City Stadium when the breaks took place.
I: Inn at Meadowbrook
England coach Thomas Tuchel wanted a quiet, almost intimate spot for his team to stay during the World Cup in the hopes it would build team spirit. So he chose the Inn at Meadowbrook in Prairie Village and the locals showed their support with signs near the hotel. They also welcomed the chance encounter with players.
J: Jerseys
Raise your hand if you didn’t see at least one person in a soccer jersey in the last six weeks. Ten teams played a match in KC and fans in these jerseys were seen around town: Algeria, Argentina, Curaçao, Netherlands, Austria, Tunisia, Ecuador, Switzerland, Ghana and Colombia. Additionally, fans were seen in USA, England, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Spain and Australia jerseys around town.
K: Kid Escorts
FIFA is often criticized, but it deserves credit for the player escort program. Kids walk out with the players and stand by their side while each country’s national anthem is played. Those children were almost entirely from Kansas City, and they got a memory of a lifetime.
L: Lawrence
One of the great stories from the World Cup came as a surprise to everyone. The University of Kansas’ colors are crimson and blue, but for a month, green was the primary color in Lawrence as the city embraced Algeria, which made a base camp at Rock Chalk Park and the DoubleTree. Vladimir Petković, the 62-year-old Bosnian coach, said he got goosebumps by the reaction from fans.
M: Messi, Lionel
For nearly six weeks, the greatest soccer player in history worked and resided in Kansas City. As if that wasn’t incredible enough, Lionel Messi is the biggest story in the World Cup, as he set the career scoring record and is hoping to help Argentina become only the third nation to win consecutive titles. Oh, and by the way, he had his first-ever World Cup hat trick in Kansas City.
N: Netherlands
In addition to making its base camp at the Current’s facility in Riverside, the Netherlands played a group-stage match and painted the town orange. The Oranje Walk was a parade unlike anything Kansas City had ever seen. It’s a tradition for the Dutch fans, but fans from all over Kansas City grabbed whatever orange shirt they could find and joined the celebration.
O: Official’s History
The Dutch wrapped up first place in Group F with a 3-1 victory over Tunisia in Kansas City. That was a historic match because Katia Itzel García was the first Latina to referee a men’s World Cup match
P: Power & Light District
Fan Fest was built to be a temporary place to watch soccer, but the Power & Light District showed it has one of the best atmospheres for a game in the country. That’s why Fox Sports frequently showed the throng of fans in KC celebrating during games.
Q: Queen Máxima
For the first time in a century, a reigning monarch visited Kansas City Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima attended the Curaçao-Ecuador game. That’s because Curaçao is part of the Dutch Kingdom, and the royal couple even danced in the locker room with the team..
R: Riyad Mahrez
The Algerian forward was part of one of the strangest games in the World Cup. Knowing a tie would get both teams through to the knockout round, Austria and Algeria seemed content with a 2-2 scoreline with 15 minutes to play. But in stoppage time, Algeria strung together a record 110 straight passes and Mahrez scored. Amazingly, Austria got the equalizer on the last play of the match. Even more incredible Mahrez all but apologized for scoring afterward. It was one of the strangest postgame interviews ever.
S: The Streetcar
One well-used mode of transport for getting to Fan Fest was the Streetcar. Fans, dressed in their favorite team’s colors, packed the Streetcar. Many visitors were amazed to learn that it cost nothing to take this particular mode of transportation.
T: Television Ratings
Fox Sports made a point of trumpeting big television ratings for its coverage of the World Cup, and each time it shined a light on Kansas City. No other city came close to matching the ratings that were seen in KC, and that was despite having multiple public watch parties.
U: Union Station
Visitors heading to or from Fan Fest took refuge in the air-conditioned Union Station, which also showed games and had a number of Instagram-ready displays for visitors.
V: Volunteers
FIFA made a smart move by giving volunteers green tops that were easy to spot, and they were all around Kansas City. Organizers said there were 3,400 volunteers in Kansas City and an absentee rate of just 10%.
W: The Wave
The Wave might be out of style with most sports fans, but soccer supporters at Arrowhead Stadium did it at almost every game. Sometimes, it started early in the first half.
X: Xhaka
Midfielder Granit Xhaka and his Switzerland teammates gave Argentina all it could handle in that quarterfinal match that went into extra time in Kansas City.
Y: Yellow
If you were anywhere near the Union Station/Fan Fest area or at Arrowhead Stadium when Ecuador or Colombia played, yellow was one dominant color. Both fanbases had a huge turnout in Kansas City and were among some of the friendliest here.
Z: Zinedine Zidane
Because of the influx of dignitaries, politicians and current and former players of all sports, there were VIP and VVIP entrances at Arrowhead Stadium. The latter is where one of the greatest French players of all-time entered the stadium for the first match in KC: Zinedine Zidane. His son, Luca, was Algeria’s goalkeeper in the 3-0 loss to Argentina.
This story was originally published July 17, 2026 at 9:48 AM.
