Going to North America '26: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

Ok. Official. Nice job KC!

https://www.kmbc.com/article/world-cup-2026-teams-base-camps-kansas-city/70066544

 

Argentina: Kansas City, Kansas, and train at the Compass Minerals National Performance Center, the training home of Sporting Kansas City.

England: at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri, which previously served as Sporting Kansas City’s training facility.

Algeria: at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas

Netherlands: at the Kansas City Current’s facility in Riverside, Missouri


Coming from a KC native, born and raised.. this is so so cool. Happy for the city.

 

What is the appeal of KC? Argentina are playing there for one game, so it makes some sense for them. Algeria play there twice and Netherlands once.
England don’t play there at all.

is this is logistics thing? I have two matches in KC myself, so am looking at logistics and where to stay etc.

 

Probably because it has less distractions than other cities. Or they made an effort to attract the delegations.

 

I imagine it is because it's the most central location.

 

Looks like good facilities in nice settings. England are near the zoo and Argentina are close to the casino! Makes sense to be in the middle of the US.

You're going to host a lot of media.

It will be interesting how nations handle the logistics. How long do they stay at base and how long do they stay in the city of each match?

 

Can you recommend a suburb or city within 45 mins drive? I am going to 2 matches in KC and this devepopment has complicated matters.
Part of the appeal.is that the plave wouldnt be flooded with people. (To the extent that can be avoided in a WC)

 

Columbia is an hour and a half we have booked there for some matches. Nice college town

 

I'm sure there's many dynamics at play. Central location, they play a game(s) there except England, humid for sure but not nearly as hot as Texas, less distractions, maybe KC recruited and offered incentives?

For Argentina, for example, they'll be in the city of their 1st game for almost 3 weeks prior. Makes sense. For England it's not exactly central so maybe the other factors are at play.

My guess: it's the BBQ and Travis Kelce's fiancé. (Ha)

 

Very interesting choice, head scratcher though. There are a million places closer, curious why Columbia. My kid goes to school there, know it well, but seems like a far drive with not much going on in the summer.

Either way. I applaud the adventure. For major americana experience hit Lake of the Ozarks in the summer. Rent a boat and go to Party Cove. Look that up.

 

City: (KC, MO neighborhoods) going from north to south: River Market, Power and Light, Crossroads, Westport, The Plaza.

Suburbs: man.... they are all just plain and 'normal' and boring. Just outside the city and near stadium are pretty middle class. Farther outside (Overland Park, Independence, Liberty) just residential with malls and chain restaurants and the like.

 

Yes realize its far but its on the drive back home so it helps for a shorter drive the following day

 

KC was a head scratcher when selected as Host City. It still is, yet it landed major team Base Camps. So there’s value we’re still not seeing.

Argentina intentionally isolated themselves from all the noise in Qatar; which helped them stay focused and build team chemistry. They may be doing the same here.

 

Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que and Jack Stack

 

Riyad Mahrez walking through the KU campus was not in my WC bingo card!!

 

Awesome for KC. I remember that in 94 in Dallas, Germany had a training open to the public for free. I attended and enjoyed it. Is that still a thing? If so, awesome for KC natives and visitors.

 

The Lamar Hunt family is about as influential on US soccer than any family in history. K. C. Is also is one of the best MLS fan cities outside of Seattle and Atlanta. So it should not be that surprising that World Cup matches are being played there. And it is the most centralized location as mentioned.

 

I get your point about suburbs, but there are costs involved. I am intrigued by an earlier poster's recommendation of Columbia. The 2 matches I am watching are 4 days apart, so could well be viable.
Kansas hosting 4 squads is a bit of a disaster for the visitor. They will take up loads of the amenities.

 

It wasn't that surprising given that it was the only Midwest city that made a bid other than Cincinnati, which is a less central location.

For base camps, the central location is a big advantage, and there are two professional clubs that both have new training facilities, plus KU's major college facilities are pro-equivalent.

 

For a university town suggestion like Columbia, there is also Lawrence, Kansas, which is closer. It may be close enough to be hit by World Cup prices, though. If you're just looking for somewhere that has an affordable hotel and don't worry too much about interesting surroundings, I would suggest searching the towns along the major highways in each direction and looking for hotels from the well-known chains.

Also, remember that the host city's name is Kansas City, not Kansas.

 

A very fair point - and I understand the Metro City crosses 2 states.

 

Kansas City arguments are probably my favorite part of this forum so far.

 

Me to please, i think im in that same group

 

Apologies if it's already been discussed but what's fifa's supposed stance in case selected applications' purchase don't go through (due to rejection by cc company and/or exceeding limit) etc?

 

See here: https://gpcustomersupportfwc2026.ti...the-Random-Selection-Draw-application-process

“FIFA Ticketing will make every effort to process the payment by attempting to charge the card more than once if the initial transaction for the partially allocated tickets fails. After all charging attempts have been made and the payment is still unsuccessful, we have measures in place to provide additional opportunities for payment. However, if all measures have been taken and no payment has been received within the guidelines and timelines provided directly to the ticket applicant, the allocated tickets will be canceled. Please note that FIFA Ticketing will not be liable if payment cannot be processed.”