You most likely received an unexpected response if you entered “Kansas City World Cup game today” into your phone this morning. It doesn’t exist. Arrowhead Stadium or Kansas City Stadium will be closed on Friday due to FIFA’s insistence on calling it off for the coming weeks. The field is vacant. With the exception of a few stragglers picking up trash near the gates, the parking lots that were crowded with orange and red flags two nights ago have once again become quiet.
The city hasn’t stopped moving, though. It’s humming in that contented, low-pitched way a place hums after hosting a large celebration and taking a break before the next one.
Thursday was a completely different story. In a Group F match that began under ominous skies and ended in actual rain—the kind that doesn’t stop just because a World Cup is taking place on the other side of it—the Netherlands defeated Tunisia 3-1. Fans didn’t seem to care all that much. The stadium was nearly completely orange by kickoff, with pockets of Tunisian red and white holding their ground in the upper bowl. That morning, an Orange Fan Walk had made its way through downtown, following the Dutch supporters’ bus from the Power & Light District toward FIFA Fan Fest.
It’s a scene that Kansas City hasn’t quite experienced before—not for soccer, and not on this scale. This city has experienced many championship nights thanks to the Chiefs, but witnessing two nations that have little to do with Missouri transform a Thursday into a continental holiday is unique. Even from the sidelines, Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany were seen watching from a suite, demonstrating how seriously the city’s own sports elite is taking this competition.
For its part, Tunisia exits the competition at this point. The Dutch took the lead early on thanks to an own goal, and although Tunisia managed to pull one back, the gap was already too great to be closed. It’s a subdued, almost anticlimactic way to end a World Cup run, and the players seemed to feel that more than the score would indicate. As a peculiar kind of memento, the Netherlands advances to the Round of 32 with a small amount of Kansas City’s rain.
What, then, closes the gap now? primarily screens. Even though there is a blank square in the local match calendar, the watch parties have continued. Fan Fest downtown remains open whether or not Kansas City’s own stadium is in use, and venues like Vye Cocktail Lounge continue to broadcast whatever is being played elsewhere in the tournament. It’s important to keep in mind that a World Cup doesn’t stop for a single host city. Almost every hour, matches take place somewhere on the continent, and the city’s bars appear to have realized this sooner than some tourists.
The next reason to return to Arrowhead is on Saturday, when Algeria takes on Austria in a Group J match that will receive far less national attention than the game on Thursday, despite the fact that it is equally important to the two federations. The demand for tickets has been consistent rather than fluctuating. The kind of built-in fan base that turned downtown orange this week is absent from both teams.
This summer, Kansas City will host nine games in total, which still seems almost unbelievable for a city known more for tight end records and barbecue than for international football. It remains to be seen if that reputation endures beyond the competition. With rain boots still drying by the door, the city appears to be happy to wait out its one-off day until Saturday.
