Lionel Messi gave a performance for the history books in Kansas City last night — and that wasn’t even my favorite part.
With the roars of a packed Arrowhead Stadium as his backdrop, Messi scored his first World Cup hat trick — and tied the record for most goals in the tournament’s history. You can practically guarantee he’ll break that record soon enough.
"Messi is from another planet,” said Oscar Quiroga, who came from Oklahoma City to watch the match from Kansas City’s FIFA Fan Festival. “I can tell you right now, he does not do things normally.”
For its debut World Cup game, the culmination of years of work, Kansas City really couldn’t have asked for a better result. Neither could the masses of blue-and-white-clad Argentina fans who made up the vast majority of crowds at the stadium and festival.
And although Algerian fans hoped for a different outcome, disappointment was not really the key emotion. They were always the underdog in this particular match. Rather, what KCUR has been hearing all week is gratitude — gratitude that Algeria even qualified for the tournament, gratitude to witness good soccer, and most of all, gratitude for being welcomed here.
Because even before Team Algeria arrived in Lawrence, Kansas, local residents went above and beyond to embrace the green, white and red.
You can find an Algerian flag carved into the field at the University of Kansas campus, and “Rock Chalk Algeria” has become the tournament’s most unusual, amazing rallying cry.
"This is actually magical," said Canton Schenk, who attended a watch party last night at Liberty Hall in downtown Lawrence.
"In America, in the past few years, it feels like accepting cultures aside our own isn't something that we're used to, so having Lawrence be such an accepting place for the World Cup and Algeria specifically, it's a really wonderful feeling and it gives me a lot of hope for America and for the future."
There’s still a lot more soccer left to be played, including five more games in Kansas City. But that kind of win goes long beyond the tournament’s end.
Transit check
One element of last night didn't go Kansas City's way: Transportation.
We always knew this was the city's biggest hurdle, as Arrowhead Stadium sits miles from downtown, and unlike other hosts, there's no train or streetcar line there. KC2026 created a whole "stadium direct" line of buses to move fans to the game, with a $15 round-trip ticket, but those vehicles are still dependent on roads.
So even though Kansas City organizers urged people to go early, traffic on the roads and highways around the stadium still got seriously mucked up. Two of KCUR's reporters got stuck in an hourlong standstill. Some fans simply got out of their vehicles and walked to the stadium.
The shuttles weren't immune, and some ditched the buses entirely and tried to get close with a rideshare. The delays caused some fans to miss kickoff.
Did you get stuck in the game-day traffic? Are you reevaluating your future stadium travel plans to ensure you get to the game in time? Email me at gabe@kcur.org.
How are the home teams doing? Your World Cup score updates
With a record 48 teams competing this year, it’s hard to keep track of all the World Cup matches happening, and harder yet to watch them all. (I’m currently writing this email from a coffee shop playing the games on a TV — ideal working conditions.)
So here I’ll start providing quick updates on all five of Kansas City’s “home teams” — the U.S. Men’s National Team, plus the four countries staying in our region.
- United States sits comfortably at the top of Group D, following a stunning 4-1 defeat of Paraguay. Their next match is at 2 p.m. Friday against Australia.
- The Netherlands is sitting in the middle of Group F after a 2-2 draw with Japan, an upset of sorts. They’ll play Sweden at noon on Saturday.
- Argentina rocketed to the top of Group J with their 3-0 defeat of Algeria. They play Austria at noon on June 22.
Algeria will try to make up their rough start with a match against Jordan at 10 p.m. on June 22.
England begins its quest at 3 p.m. today against Croatia in Dallas.
Team England thefts and confiscated drones
This was not the welcome Kansas City hoped for their English guests.
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson has filed charges against two men in connection with the theft of nearly $20,000 worth of equipment for the English men's national soccer team.
The gear included cleats, clothing, signed jerseys, two lion stuffed animals and a Lego set of a Nike Air shoe. It was found missing at some point between being loaded in Florida and arriving in Kansas City, where the team has its base camp.
“Jackson County will not tolerate any criminal activity that targets World Cup visitors, including the international teams that have traveled here to compete,” Johnson said in a statement. “Our office is committed to holding these individuals accountable.”
Elsewhere on the crime beat, the FBI has already seized nine drones illegally flown over World Cup sites in Kansas City.
Both the stadium and fan festival are no-drone-fly-zones right now, and Kansas and Missouri each got federal grants to improve their surveillance tech. KCUR’s Sam Zeff has more.
At first match, Kansas City defeats its top opponent: weather
One tweet this weekend particularly made me laugh: “Weird move by KC to have one of its worst storm seasons in recent memory while it’s hosting one of the most popular events on the planet.”
Weird move by KC to have one of its worst storm seasons in recent memory while it’s hosting one of the most popular events on the planet.
— Adam Drovetta (@ADrovetta) June 14, 2026
Weather whiplash has been one of the defining stories of Kansas City’s first week with the World Cup, swinging from awfully muggy heat to storm sirens — even over the course of a few hours.
Here I’ll remind everyone that you can and should bring a plastic water bottle to the Fan Festival and into the stadium, but not metal or glass. Annoyingly, the requirements differ at each location, so check out this guide to beating the heat from KCUR’s Noah Taborda.
Kansas City’s weather problems are certainly not the only ones hitting the World Cup. Thankfully, the conditions for the Argentina-Algeria match yesterday couldn’t have been more perfect, hovering around 80 degrees at kickoff.
No matter what happens from here, at least we didn’t get Messi hit by a tornado.
How much are World Cup fans paying for Kansas City games?
Tina Lanius, a hardcore Argentina fan from St. Louis, spent the bulk of her costs on lodging: For two games in Kansas City, she’s spending $1,800 on five nights of stays, plus $120 for round-trip Amtrak tickets and $600 for total on match tickets.
"I'm already 60, so I don't think we're getting another World Cup, especially in North America, while I'm here," Lanius told St. Louis Public Radio’s Brian Munoz. "It's still a pinch-me moment.”
Her quest was extra personal, because the last time Argentina won the World Cup in 2022, Lanius had nearly died the day before. Read her story, plus more World Cup money diaries, from St. Louis Public Radio’s Brian Munoz.
Lincoln-based auditor Vanessa Emlich also came down to Kansas City for last night’s game. “I think it's kind of a dream come true for me,” she told Nebraska Public Media’s Aaron Bonderson.
Kickin’ the ball around Kansas City
- Soccer! City! Fox Sports announced Kansas City was the top market in the country for the USA-Paraguay match, with 9.2% of all TVs tuned into the match. “I mean… We are the soccer capital of America!” Mayor Quinton Lucas responded. (The Kansas City Star)
- Shop local: More than 100 businesses, artists, food vendors and other Kansas City organizations are operating inside Union Station for a “City of Entrepreneurs” market during the World Cup. Get your merch on, just one streetcar stop away from the Fan Festival. (Startland News)
- Eat local: As much as I like a footlong corndog (can confirm it’s tasty), the Fan Festival is also a great place for eating your KC pride — with 20 different local restaurants running stands. And yes, that includes several BBQ options. (Startland News)
- Labor dispute: A union of city employees sued Kansas City for forcing sweeping schedule changes, mandatory overtime and other World Cup work rules without required negotiations. (The Kansas City Star)
- ‘Barbecue sauce’: Ted Lasso, the fictional Kansas City soccer coach played by real Kansas Citian Jason Sudeikis, has become an ambassador for the World Cup. (The Times of London)
- Graphic design is my passion: An officially licensed FIFA World Cup shirt, found at the Power & Light District Rally House for $45, features “Kansas City” in bold blue letters… with the St. Louis Gateway Arch over top. I personally need this shirt, thank you very much. (KCTV5)
- Soccer origins: Bill Finn, who co-founded Brookside Soccer Club in 1977 with two other local dads, joined KCUR’s Up To Date to talk about how the pioneering youth program got started. (KCUR)
- Caribbean import: Kansas City birders were overjoyed this week when a brown booby, a delightfully goofy-looking tropical seabird, took up residence at a midtown pond. Maybe the traveler came to root for Curaçao, where it’s more commonly found, when the island nation plays at Kansas City Stadium on Saturday. (KCUR)
Kickin’ the ball around the continent
- More bird facts: This week is truly the intersection of all my interests. Is there really a correlation between bird species and World Cup success? (The Athletic)
- New rules: World Cup referees will keep an eye out for new time violations around substitutions, goal kicks and throw-ins. Video-assisted refereeing may also play a role in reviewing calls. (NPR)
- Tartan Army: More than 1,000 fans of Scotland’s national team chartered a fleet of yellow school buses to travel to the World Cup game — while raising money for charities — instead of paying highly inflated prices for official transit. (WGBH)
- Samurai Blue: Nashville isn’t even hosting an official game, but residents are still showing out in huge numbers for Team Japan, which went off-script to choose Music City as its base camp. (WPLN)
- Iran flag ban: FIFA prohibited fans from displaying Iran’s pre-revolutionary flag at the World Cup, but it could still be seen around Los Angeles Stadium during their game against New Zealand. (LAist)
- Weird flex, but OK: Some of the strangest World Cup merchandise is already sold out, including a giant inflatable Lionel Messi, poorly designed host city shirts and a pet jersey — actually, that one is really cute. (The Athletic)
- Homelessness responses: Host cities took different approaches to addressing homeless camps before the World Cup arrived, including securing motel rooms or building tiny homes. (AP)
- Hero’s welcome: A FIFA referee from Somalia, denied entry to the U.S. for the World Cup, was greeted back in Mogadishu by a cheering crowd of thousands. FIFA also will pay him his full tournament fee. (NPR)
- Speaking of heroes: Just 10 minutes into a St. Louis watch party for the USA-Paraguay game, the venue lost power and 1,000 attendees lost their game feed. Then three guys in an apartment above hoisted their large-screen TV onto the balcony so the crowd could watch. (St. Louis Public Radio)
- Not so full, huh? Observers noticed thousands of empty seats at several World Cup games so far, despite FIFA claiming the matches were sold out amid controversy over high ticket prices. FIFA says fans were watching from the concourses instead. (AP)
- Cold water: If you’ve been watching any of the matches so far, you might have noticed built-in “hydration breaks” disrupting each half, no matter the weather. Ostensibly for players’ health, these have instead been used by Fox to play more advertisements — in one case, missing some of the action upon return. Soccer fans are accustomed to watching unbroken 45-minute halves, and they are not happy about this change. If you watch Telemundo, however, you won’t have to deal with the extra ads. (The Athletic)
