Kansas City wants the 2026 World Cup. If you’ve driven by Main Street in downtown Kansas City lately, chances are you’ve seen the massive ninty-by-ninty-foot sign with the message “We want the World Cup” written in bold white letters. With the upcoming FIFA representatives visit expected in late October, Kansas City is one step closer to its goal.
During the visit, the KC2026 leadership team will highlight what Kansas City could bring to the table if chosen as a Host City. Katherine Fox, Director of Kansas City’s FIFA World Cup Bid, has high hopes for Kansas City’s chances of being selected.
“We feel confident,” Fox told KSHB. “We definitely feel confident. We have a lot of incredible assets working in our favor. We are the most centrally located city. One of the things that we’ve got going for us is that we are no more than a four-hour flight from any potential World Cup host city, including Canada and Mexico.”
Arrowhead Stadium would serve as the venue, though the field would need to be modified slightly to fit FIFA specifications. Children’s Mercy Park, Julian Field at Park University, Swope Soccer Village, and the KU Hospital Training Complex have been proposed as practice fields, with Compass Minerals National Performance Center as a team base camp.
Kansas City’s bid to be a FIFA World Cup Host City has gained support in all fifty states, receiving tens of thousands of signatures and support from local celebrities like the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Royals’ Salvador Pérez and Sporting Kansas City’s ex-captain Matt Besler, a FIFA World Cup veteran, who have all been named honorary bid captains.
There are currently seventeen other U.S cities vying for the Host City honor. Each of the ten chosen Host Cities would hold five to seven matches for the world’s largest sporting event in the summer of 2026, drumming up an estimated economic impact of $620 million.
FIFA is set to announce the Host Cities in mid-2022.
