Teams, tales and tips – – a football fan's guide to Kansas City
Around the Power & Light District, backdropped by the home of Sporting KC fans, No Other Pub, the crowd waved flags in celebration. One bright day in June 2022, Kansas City had been chosen as one of 11 cities across the US to co-host the World Cup 2026. The rest of the world, failing to see Chicago or Washington DC make the cut, remained puzzled. Kansas City? Isn’t that a song?
An elite training base for US Soccer, Kansas City provides ample evidence of how far the game has come since Lamar Hunt laid the groundwork in the 1960s, and then again in the 1990s. After three decades in MLS, two MLS Cups and four US Open Cups, this soccer hub was where the Texan oil man sited Kansas City Wiz, now Sporting Kansas City, a founder member of MLS in 1996. He may have been behind the Super Bowl, the American Football League and the high-profile Kansas City Chiefs, but his sports focus did not stop at gridiron.
Inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, lending his name to the US Open Cup, and granted a Medal of Honor for ‘changing the course of soccer in America’, Hunt helped create the NASL back in the Sixties, and was also behind Columbus Crew, the first soccer-specific stadium in modern times, and FC Dallas.
But Kansas City, where he had taken the Dallas Texans in 1963 to become NFL powerhouse the Chiefs, was always essential to his strategy. On the border of two states, the streetcar suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, is where you find Arrowhead Stadium, home of NFL’s Chiefs and the 73,000-capacity arena where World Cup fixtures will take place.
Its gateway a huge heart, the KC Fan Fest takes place on the south lawn of the National WWI Museum & Memorial.
Getting here
Arriving in town and city transport
ConnectKC is laying on free Airport (free) and Stadium ($15 roundtrip) Direct buses, for which a pass is required – register via kc2026.com/transportation. Kansas City International Airport is 18 miles (29km) northwest of Downtown Kansas City, buses heading to 27th Street & Main near the Fan Festival, setting-off point for Stadium services, as well as from four P&R locations.
A taxi (+1 816-243-2345) from the airport should take 30mins to Downtown Kansas City and cost around $60. Arrowhead Stadium is four miles southeast of Downtown. Expect to pay around $40 with zTrip taxi (+1 855-699-8747), bookable online.
Prices for parking at Arrowhead Stadium (1 Arrowhead Dr, Kansas City, MO 64129) have been set at $125-$150 for group games, $175 and $225 for the knockout matches. Spots can be booked via Just Park. A match ticket is required to complete the purchase.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
No Other Pub by Sporting KC anchors a corner of the Power & Light District, sporting blue and white across the building. Inside, ‘Kansas City’s World Cup Headquarters’ serves superior bar food – Southwest chicken flatbread, cheesesteak sandwiches, and signature fries – while draft beers include German-style Dunkel by the Kansas City Bier Company. Along with multiple screens, NOP excels in bar pastimes, golf, bowling and arcade games.
Alongside, McFadden’s Sports Saloon has screens aplenty, with hours extended for the World Cup, while Johnny’s Tavern has been serving hamburgers since 1953, all local branches tuned to sport.
The KC Hooley House is a huge Irish pub ideally suited to sports-watching at the TV-lined bar or in the courtyard with its pull-down screen. Just over Truman Road, the Streetcar Grille & Tavern aims to be a sports bar of higher quality, with its 24 beers on tap, Wine Wednesdays and weekend brunches.
In the nearby Old Town Lofts, John’s Big Deck is named after its huge rooftop patio with views over Kansas City. Level 1 comprises a sports bar and grill, level 2 a weekend dance club. The first floor offers live music.
