World Cup

Kansas City será la ciudad más pequeña de Norteamérica en ser anfitrión de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026. Pero es posible que no hubiera adoptado este deporte en absoluto, de no ser por el esfuerzo de los primeros inmigrantes que lucharon por este deporte, incluso antes de que existieran los campos de fútbol.

A new World Cup countdown clock is up and running at the Scheels Soccer Complex in Overland Park.

Kansas City will be the smallest city in North America to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But it may not have embraced the sport at all, if not for the efforts of early immigrants who fought for the beautiful game — before there were even soccer fields to play on.

Hotel rooms, buses, and liquor laws are just a few of the problems that Kansas City will need to figure out in the next year, before the first World Cup games kick off at Arrowhead Stadium next June.

Kansas City is exactly one year away from the first FIFA World Cup match at Arrowhead Stadium. KC2026 CEO Pam Kramer joined KCUR's Up To Date for an update on how the nonprofit is working through security and helping businesses prepare.

The wildly popular, sprawling public art installation plans its next display for April 2026, spanning the city's World Cup run. As many as 150 “Heartists” will be selected to turn blank canvas sculptures into expressions of Kansas City’s cultural identity and community pride.

Kansas City Council set the money aside to encourage small businesses, artists, and makers to move into the city's highly visible, but vacant, storefronts before the 2026 World Cup. “When visitors from all over the world visit next year, we need to be open for business,” one member said.

The group planning Kansas City’s matches hopes to build a regional transit network that gets residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors across the metro quickly and easily. They’ll need more money and regional cooperation to do so.

Twelve Kansas City restaurants, breweries and other businesses were chosen this week for grants to expand patio space — including adding furniture and lighting, painting murals and more.

Some Kansas Citians on social media have criticized the way that the KCPD and Mayor Quinton Lucas responded to a march of masked white nationalists last weekend. In a wide-ranging conversation, Lucas defended his comments, as well as discussed the Royals' search for a new stadium, his recent trip to Qatar and fixing public transit.

Big decisions loom at Kansas City Hall — including preparations for next year’s World Cup matches, building a new city jail and managing a budget amid financial uncertainties.

Kathy Nelson is the president and CEO of both Visit KC and the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation. She joined KCUR's Up To Date for our series "5 Questions."