When four unassuming Argentines settled in for breakfast at the Hotel Kansas City on Dec. 10, no one — not even their hosts — knew that this, a low-key visit to America’s 38th-largest city, would incite a heavyweight battle for World Cup base camps.
The Argentines — soccer administrators and fitness coaches — were there to tour hotels and facilities. They were searching for a temporary World Cup home, a place where Lionel Messi and the reigning champs could live and train this summer. But they’d just been to Texas; next, they’d go to Miami. Kansas City, a relatively humble town tucked away in Middle America, the smallest of the 2026 World Cup’s metro areas, felt like an afterthought.
“The pervasive rumor for Argentina,” says Alan Dietrich, Kansas City’s base camp lead, “was that they were going to be base-camping in Miami.”
Then, however, the four men squeezed into Dietrich’s compact SUV. And as they hopped around Kansas and Missouri, from Sporting KC’s training center to hotels, pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic, charmed by Dietrich’s affability, they felt … comfortable. By evening, they were chowing down on famous Kansas City barbecue at Jack Stack. “And they loved it,” Dietrich says.
As they devoured a spread of 10 meats, plus every side and dessert on the menu, they bonded with Dietrich and soccer-loving waiters. The following morning, they found an ideal World Cup hotel — with a coherent layout and space to roam, distant from downtown bustle. They eventually chose Kansas City for its location “and, more importantly, the amenities,” the Argentine soccer federation, AFA, said in a news release.
And, in doing so, they sent England scrambling.
England, throughout 2025, had fallen for Kansas City. Everyone, from executives to head coach Thomas Tuchel, had visited. They found a boutique hotel that felt, in some ways, like an elegant English estate. Over the summer, they negotiated directly with Sporting KC; both parties wanted to lock in a deal for the MLS club’s training ground.
FIFA, however, intervened. It introduced rules that gave preference to highly-ranked teams and, crucially, to those with nearby group-stage games.
When December’s World Cup draw gave Argentina and the Netherlands games in Kansas City, the Argentines, ranked No. 2, had first pick and chose Sporting’s facilities. The Dutch, ranked No. 7, went next and chose the home of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current. England, with matches in Texas, Massachusetts and New Jersey, “felt like they were on the outside looking in,” Sporting KC CEO Jake Reid tells The Athletic.
But they still felt attached to Kansas City. So they returned for another round of tours. And they found a solution.
They called Sporting KC and FIFA, who called Kansas City’s host committee. Pam Kramer, the committee’s CEO, remembers getting the call on Dec. 11 — as Argentina’s visit was concluding. England, she was told, was now eyeing Swope Soccer Village, home of Sporting KC’s reserve team and academy; could the region handle a fourth base camp — with Algeria reportedly set to camp in nearby Lawrence, Kan.? Could it accommodate three top-seven teams?
The answer was “yes.” It almost always has been “yes” in a city that, more so than others, sees the World Cup as a stage on which to perform for the world.
“There is a united, collective belief that this could be transformational for the way people think about Kansas City,” Kramer says, “and for the confidence we have in ourselves.”
That, above all, is why Kansas City will host three top seeds throughout the 2026 World Cup, while no other city will be home base for more than one.
In interviews with a variety of people close to the base camp process, several other reasons also emerged. Teams valued Kansas City’s central location. They liked its modern facilities. They saw its summer heat as a tool to help them acclimatize. They loved the potential for privacy and the ease of moving around.
In the end, though, they were wooed by Midwestern hospitality, by proverbial “red carpets,” and by a proud region determined to shine in World Cup spotlights — to elevate itself onto a pedestal where other host cities already sit.
“This is the biggest thing we’re ever going to host,” Jenny Wilson, the VP of tourism development for Visit KC and one of the many who welcomed Argentina’s delegation, tells The Athletic. “L.A. has the Olympics, New York hosts massive things all the time, Miami, [etc.]. But for us, we’ll never host anything this big again.”
‘We went over the top’
This story, Kansas Citians say — the story of how their overlooked town became the base camp capital of the World Cup — begins with money. It begins with some $650 million invested in soccer infrastructure across the metro area since 2009, money that built the fields and facilities where Argentina, England and the Netherlands will soon train.
But the story accelerates in 2021, in crunch time for prospective World Cup cities, as FIFA officials toured 23 of them before picking 16. Of the 23, Kansas City was the third-smallest. It had to beat out Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital; Nashville, the Music City; and Denver. It sold itself as the “soccer capital of America,” but it was, inherently, an underdog straddling two flyover states — one with a gloomy, rundown airport that it couldn’t hide. (The new airport, which opened in 2023, was still under construction.)
So, on the evening of Oct. 20, 2021, Reid and the bid committee dispatched around 200 Sporting KC staffers and volunteers to roam the airport terminal as FIFA’s delegation arrived, “just to make it look like it was energetic,” Reid says.
Drivers, with FIFA inspectors in tow, took a carefully scripted route through the city, past billboards and buildings that bellowed: “WE WANT THE WORLD CUP.”
The following morning, bid officials enlisted locals to play soccer on a grassy area near FIFA’s hotel, along the path from meetings to a barbecue lunch.
“We went over the top,” Reid says. “I could probably guarantee you no other city was doing it to that degree.” That night, they reserved a suite at Sporting’s stadium for a U.S. women’s national team friendly. FIFA officials “ended up staying about 90 minutes after the match in our VIP suite,” Dietrich says, “just having a good time and partying.”
None of that, of course, directly explains why England and Argentina hand-picked Kansas City. But it speaks to the lengths that everyone, from politicians to random citizens, has gone to support or attract all aspects of the World Cup.
When administrators from touring teams would roll up to the Current’s facility in Riverside, Mo., for example, the club’s president, GM, head of facilities and a co-owner would be outside ready to greet them, Current owner Chris Long tells The Athletic. After handshakes and pleasantries, they’d head to a boardroom, then on a detailed tour of high-tech pitches, dining areas and other spaces.
“We wanted them to not only meet but hear from the top of the organization how we felt they would be treated,” Long says, and “how they would be able to have a secure, state-of-the-art stay in our area.”
Around a dozen teams, including France and Germany, ultimately visited Kansas City. Dietrich, a former Sporting KC exec, became something of a personal guide.
He took England’s delegation, including Tuchel, to Top Golf and for a few games of padel. (“When he played padel,” Dietrich says of Tuchel, “man, he was intense.”)
He drove the Argentine delegation — fitness coaches Luis Martín and Juan Tamone, and administrators Daniel Cabrera and Alberto Pernas — all around the region, bonding with them as he went. Cabrera was fluent in English. Dietrich knew just enough Spanish. Whenever he’d hear a personal anecdote, or learn about Argentina’s hotel needs, he’d grab his phone and tap out a text to managers at their next destination, priming them to make a strong impression. “I [was] driving with my knees,” Dietrich says with a laugh.
“It does sound obsessive, I know,” he adds. “But we are just that way.”
And he firmly believes that the obsessiveness, coupled with the warmth that he calls “KC kind,” is why international soccer’s giants came to trust and covet Kansas City.
“Details don’t just speak, they shout,” Dietrich says, reciting a quote. “People appreciate when the little things go right.”
How England was sold
England visited at least six times throughout 2025, and almost instantly, staffers loved the Sporting facility in Kansas City, Kan. At a cost of $75 million, it opened in 2018 and houses both the MLS club and various U.S. Soccer Federation activities. The English, and later Argentina, were impressed with everything from the multi-story gym to social spaces. What they couldn’t initially find was a proper hotel.
So, ahead of their second visit, Dietrich and his team compiled options that aligned with England’s needs. They eventually settled on a property south of Kansas City — reportedly the Inn at Meadowbrook — that England will rent out in its entirety for the duration of the World Cup. It’s adjacent to a park and “tranquil lakes,” the perfect place for players to unwind. “We,” the hotel’s website boasts, “have room to breathe.”
This, room to breathe, was part of Kansas City’s broader appeal. The region — spread across 14 counties, countless suburbs and 8,472 square miles — is the antithesis of other World Cup markets, such as New York.
“This is also a very easy, secure place to have your existence during what is otherwise a very stressful time,” Long says. “It’s not like there’s super intense media here. You’re not going to have an issue keeping players safe.”
Kansas City has developed a track record, too, for catering to superstars — such as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, teammate Travis Kelce and Kelce’s fiancée, Taylor Swift.
The final ingredient, for England, was an interpersonal touch. In June, when Tuchel, Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham and others visited Kansas City, Dietrich and Reid took them to Eddie V’s, an upscale restaurant. In a private room, they feasted on steaks and swapped stories from their time in soccer. “We had a blast,” Dietrich recalls. And they solidified a relationship that underpins any base camp commitment.
“At the end of the day,” Reid says, “you have to feel good about the people.”
Dietrich frames it as four key questions: “Can we trust you? Will you be a partner with us? Will you help us when we need it? Do you care?”
By June, England knew that the resounding answers were yes, yes, yes and yes.
And in December, Kansas City proved it.
The post-draw frenzy and ‘the Wild West’
Months of diligence and meticulous prep gave way to a “frenzy” on Dec. 6. Hundreds of coaches and team administrators filed into a second-floor ballroom at D.C.’s Capital Hilton to learn their World Cup schedules, then fanned out across North America to scout base camps that jibed with their group fixtures. Many scheduled tours; others knocked on doors, unannounced. “Tunisia showed up at [Sporting KC’s] stadium,” Reid recalls. “Our security guy called me, he’s like, ‘Hey, Tunisia’s here.’ We were like, ‘What?’”
“It was like the Wild West,” Reid says.
Argentina, though, held the keys. When it chose Sporting KC, dominoes started falling. The Netherlands, sitting second in the Kansas City pecking order, had visited in early 2025 and again soon after the draw. On follow-up calls over Zoom, the Dutch talked through logistics with the Current. They leant into the idea of using a world-class training facility purpose-built for women’s professional soccer, the first of its kind. They committed. And with that, everyone else was effectively shut out.
“Austria was interested in the Current facility,” Reid says. “They probably would’ve picked that if not for Argentina.” Instead, the Austrians were forced to head west.
But England — which also held extensive conversations with the Current — forced its way back into the conversation. After touring multiple other U.S. cities, it arranged yet another Kansas City visit and inquired about Swope. Kramer’s first thought was about budget — could the host committee afford to secure a third site? After discussions with local government officials and police departments, all involved decided they’d find a way.
Reid’s first thought, meanwhile, was: Uh, where will we train?
For years, he’d planned to send Sporting’s first team to Swope while a World Cup team took over the club’s main facility. If England were to take over Swope as well, he’d have to search for a Plan C.
So, he began searching. Two months later, he still is. Nonetheless, after discussing the dilemma with Sporting KC’s owners and GM, the thought of turning England away was never seriously considered.
When asked why — why would you give up two facilities at the expense of your own team? — Reid gets philosophical. Positioning Kansas City as the “base camp capital of the world,” he explains, will lift the city and his club. It will be a marketing tool and a recruiting tool. English and Argentine stars will go back to their clubs (and their agents) and glow about the K.C. experience. Perhaps, someday, one of them (or a friend) will return as a Sporting player.
And for the region, benefits are already evident. Kansas City is on the map. At this World Cup, it will be more visible than Boston, than Seattle, perhaps even Philadelphia and Atlanta.
“Perhaps, at one point, we were happy to be nominated, we were happy to have a seat at the table,” Kramer says. “Now, we want to be the best host city in the tournament.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Kansas City Chiefs, Sporting KC, England, Kansas City Current, Netherlands, Argentina, MLS, Soccer, International Football, NWSL, Sports Business, FIFA Men's World Cup
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