Chiefs’ Harrison Butker, a former soccer player, has his FIFA World Cup favorite
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Harrison Butker played four years of high school soccer and won three state titles.
- Butker said he'll root for Team USA but favors Ronaldo.
- Kansas City Stadium will revert to GEHA Field July 11, 2026.
Leave it to the kicker to have a take on the FIFA World Cup.
The Chiefs’ Harrison Butker played soccer for four years in high school and helped The Westminister School in Atlanta to three state championships.
Butker switched sports for college at Georgia Tech and has become one of the NFL’s most successful placekickers. But he’s always kept an eye on soccer and, more than most Chiefs teammates, will be locked in as the world’s biggest sporting event begins this week.
With some of the matches — six, to be precise — taking place on the same turf Butker plays his home games.
“Whether I’m in the stadium watching it or just on TV,” he said, “to see these top, world-class athletes from across the world playing in Arrowhead Stadium ... It will be awesome to see.
“And the whole city, I’m excited to see the people come in and how it kind of changes the city for a couple of months.”
Butker said he’ll pull for Team USA, naturally. But his favorite player suits up for another country.
“I’m a Renaldo fan,” Butker said. “I’d love to see Ronaldo in his last World Cup.”
Legendary Ronaldo Cristiano and Team Portugal don’t play a group-stage game in Kansas City. But it’s possible for Portugal to play a quarterfinal here.
It’s also possible that Argentina and superstar Lionel Messi to play a quarterfinal game at Kansas City Stadium (FIFA’s name for GEHA Field at Arrowhead during the tournament). An Argentina-Portugal match — Messi against Ronaldo, perhaps for the final time — would capture the world’s attention.
And Butker’s.
“There’s a chance,” he said. “I’m sure ticket prices will be out there. But I’d love to see Ronaldo play in probably his last World Cup.”
After that quarterfinal game on July 11, Kansas City Stadium turns back into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium — and some two months later, the Chiefs will open their 2026 NFL season against the Denver Broncos on “Monday Night Football.”
Butker, the third-leading scorer in Chiefs history, will be looking for a bounce-back year after a slow start to 2025: He missed three field goals and two extra points in the Chiefs’ first four games last season. He also missed two field goals and two extra points the end of the year.
“When you start the season off with misses,” he said, “your back’s kind of against the wall, and mentally it kind of takes a toll on you. It’s just not great.
“I climbed out of it ... but you don’t want to start out the season missing as much.”