Wherever Argentina’s World Cup run ends, it ran through the heart of Kansas City
The moment of brilliance didn’t come from Lionel Messi.
At long last, though, it did come.
Argentina played with a man advantage for nearly an hour before Julian Alvarez broke through with a strike from beyond the box, the go-ahead goal in extra time that piloted a 3-1 win against Switzerland inside a jubilant Arrowhead Stadium.
They will attempt to become the first country since 1962 to repeat as World Cup champions, a path that will next take them to Atlanta to meet England on Wednesday.
Argentina is moving on.
But this is the end for Kansas City. What a run it’s been — for the smallest host city in this tournament, for the stadium that has housed plenty of champions over the last decade, for those who crashed the place for the last month and for those who welcomed them.
The run is ongoing for the defending champions, its destination yet to be determined. But it started here. Its origin will always be here.
The World Cup schedule placed Argentina in Kansas City twice, once in the group stage for a Lionel Messi hat trick and another in the quarterfinal, the latter quite probably the most prominent event ever played inside Arrowhead Stadium.
But they chose to make Kansas City their home. They’ll always be a team that chose Kansas City.
FIFA approved 64 base camp sites across North America, and for more than a minute, 63 of them assumed they were playing from behind. Their star, Lionel Messi, makes Miami his home, so why wouldn’t Argentina follow?
But they were not persuaded by South Beach, nor the West Coast life, nor the celebrity of New York.
They were persuaded by Kansas City.
The story of Argentina picking KC is emblematic of how the 33rd largest market in America became one of just 11 U.S. host cities in the tournament.
After the World Cup draw placed Argentina at Arrowhead Stadium (err, Kansas City Stadium) for its tournament opener, the country sent four national team representatives to explore the possibility of making Kansas City their home for the summer.
Alan Dietrich, the former chief operating officer for Sporting Kansas City, met them for breakfast. There, it quickly became evident, at least to him, they were asking the sort of questions that implied they were taking the possibility seriously.
So on a drive from the downtown breakfast to Sporting’s training complex, Dietrich pulled out his phone and texted those waiting at the next stop. He wanted to tell them the Argentinian officials preferred to keep the vibe more relaxed. And he also wanted them to know: We’re in this.
“Should we be worried,” one of the Argentinian passengers interrupted as Dietrich pecked away at his iPhone keyboard, “that you’re driving with your knees?”
They’d spend the night slamming some Jack Stack Barbecue. A few days later, they’d reach back out.
They were in.
That’s how Argentina arrived.
They left with a bang, too.
Their stay in the interim included two victories, one louder than the last, with the win Saturday sending them to the semifinals in back-to-back World Cups for the first time in 35 years.
They packed the place in white and baby blue Saturday, leaving Switzerland only a sprinkle of seats. They chanted, danced and partied long after the final whistle, filling the sections behind the west end zone. They brought some 70,000 fans to KC this weekend, same as they did a month earlier.
At times, it felt like they brought the entire country.
They turned Mill Creek Park in the Country Club Plaza into an all-night party not once but twice. During the first, a month ago now, two childhood friends bumped into each other for the first time in decades.
A reunion.
In Kansas City.
This place was doubted upon selection, and a half-decade prior when they began laying the groundwork to submit a bid. It’s been doubted during the tournament by some places capable of outshining the city in size.
But not in cachet. Not now.
Two of the four teams that chose Kansas City will meet in the semifinals Wednesday, guaranteeing some representation in the World Cup final. How about that?
Wherever the journey ends for Argentina, it ran through the heart of Kansas City.