Four group stage games, a round of 32, a quarterfinal game and the base camp for four nations made an impact not only felt throughout Kansas City, but across the entire state.
Kansas City was one of the 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, holding six matches at Arrowhead Stadium and being the base camp to four nations, Argentina, England, the Netherlands and Algeria.
More than 800,000 people attended World Cup matches and the FIFA Fan Festival in the city, according to KC2026, the non-profit organization responsible for organizing World Cup events. Fox Sports found that Kansas City was the No. 1 market in the United States for viewership with a 4.89 share and a rating of 20.
The city also saw an increase in revenue with short-term rentals, with more than $10 million in revenue, an AirDNA report found.
The World Cup didn’t just impact the city on an economic level; local and professional soccer clubs could also feel the energy from the global tournament.
The Kansas City Current, Missouri's National Women's Soccer League team, had the opportunity to host the Netherlands team using their training facilities as their base camp during the tournament.
“It was an opportunity to show off really what women's sports is all about and show off these world-class facilities that are not only for our women's team, but also for one of the best men's teams in the entire world,” said Dani Welniak, vice president of communication for the Kansas City Current. “I think we also saw that represented in Kansas City as a whole.”
For Welniak, looking back at the World Cup, the impact wasn’t just about being able to show off what the team had to offer but how the city came together to support these international teams.
“To see over 36,000 people, Netherlands fans, Kansas City fans who you know got Netherlands kits or got something orange to be able to participate in this fandom, this opportunity, this world moment,” Welniak said.
Even on the opposite side of the state, those in St. Louis could feel the energy the World Cup brought.
St. Louis CITY SC, St. Louis’ Major League Soccer team, capitalized on the excitement from the tournament by hosting watch parties, 5v5 youth soccer tournaments, and a 40-day free soccer event.
“This tournament did not create the soccer culture here in St. Louis or anywhere else in North America. It revealed a soccer culture that has been growing for decades,” said Matt Sebek, Chief Experience Officer for St. Louis CITY SC in an email.
While it’s too early to identify if the World Cup has impacted ticket sales, Sebek said that it has brought a new energy to the game.
“In our inaugural season in 2023, there were so many new soccer fans looking to experience CITY SC for the first time," Sebek said. "And now we have a similar opportunity to connect with new fans of the sport through the World Cup while continuing to engage with our fans who have been with us since the beginning.”
According to Welniak, the economic impact is less immediate, but she feels that there will be more of a long-term impact in terms of fandom both for the Kansas City Current and the sport more broadly.
“Being able to translate that fandom and that viewership into soccer fans who weren't traditionally soccer fans, I think makes a really big impact on our organization, but also will make a long-term impact in terms of having fans in the U.S. and in Kansas City that are now soccer fans who weren't traditional soccer fans,” Welniak said.
Youth soccer clubs feel World Cup excitement
The tournament has also made an impression on the youngest of soccer players in the Missouri area.
Raul Cobos, the director of Unified FC, a youth soccer club in Kansas City, said that kids were able to experience not only the passion of the sport in the U.S. but also from other countries.
“The excitement was there,” Cobos said. “Everybody got a taste not only of what it meant to kids that play in this country, but also they got a taste of the passion that is created by the other countries that ended up visiting further teams at games at Arrowhead, or just watching it at watch parties with different cultures.”
For 573 Elite Soccer in Jefferson City, not only was it the biggest year for registration, but the tournament has left a lasting impression on its players.
“This is our biggest year where we've had the most amount of growth, the most amount of kids join or come try out,” said Mackenzie Woodruff, secretary of 573 Elite Soccer. “Even our current players, it impacted a whole lot because several of our own players got to go to some of those games. So seeing it firsthand, seeing it up close and personal, I do think it plays a role in our current kids and how they want their soccer career to go and that kind of thing motivates them.”
Even clubs more than 340 miles away from Arrowhead Stadium saw an impact.
“There are a lot of young players on these World Cup teams that had a very good season with their clubs and with their national teams, and for these kids that are 10 to 15 years old, they see that as a possibility for them to keep growing and maybe one day play for the national team,” said Carlos Salas, the club director of Cape County Soccer Club in Cape Girardeau.
While the tournament is over and won’t be played again for another four years, it has brought more attention to soccer here in Missouri, according to Sebek.
“Without a doubt, the tournament has brought more attention to the sport both nationally and here in St. Louis. I do believe we'll see more young people inspired to pick up the game,” Sebek said. “So we have a very unique opportunity to continue growing the sport here at home.”
The World Cup has left a lasting influence on not just soccer, but the fans as well.
“Missourians fell in love with the star players on these teams; they became soccer fans, and they fell in love with the game that maybe they enjoyed, but now they're passionate about,” Welniak said. “So I think we're going to see a very long-term legacy in terms of people, fans, kids and even adults, you know, around Missouri and Kansas that become real hardcore soccer fans.”
This story was originally published by Missouri Business Alert, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
