KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As soccer fans in Kansas City, Missouri, exploded with excitement on Thursday, youth soccer fans were filled with dreams.
Kansas City soccer coaches say the sport has seen a huge amount of growth in young players.
Now with the 2026 World Cup matches coming to Kansas City, young players’ role models will no longer be on the screen, but in the city.
“If I can grab myself a ticket, I’m super excited,” Will Matthews, a Heartland Soccer Association player, said.
With the Heart of America on the national stage, the excitement is being passed around the turf.
“I have four kids and they all play soccer,” GeiGei Her, a soccer parent, said. “Knowing they are all going to be able to see it, and especially knowing they are a part of history — that would be amazing.”
Shane Hackett, with Heartland Soccer, weighed in on what the KCMO's bid means to youth players.
“I think about these young boys and girls out there playing, and now they get to have the biggest sports event come to KC and play,” Hackett said.
Hackett helped bring the cup to KCMO, but also leads 70,000 youth soccer players in and outside of the Kansas City area.
“What a great reward for the unbelievable leadership we have, and all these kids we have playing soccer in KC,” Hackett said.
Tina Wardlaw, whose children play soccer, is excited for what the bid could mean for her children.
“Especially the littles, they look up to those players,” Wardlaw said. "Soccer is just such a big part of our community. For them to look up to them, to see what their future could be, it's exciting.”
Coaches hope it’s a push to expose other kids who don’t play to get active.
"Does that beat other cities?” Phil Gomez, with the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association, said. “Find me another city that has that growth, and rapid rise in youth soccer, and I would say Kansas City has to be number one."
Gomez said the amount of turf and lights in the Kansas City area have grown to more than 35 fields in 15 years.
"The amount of facilities in Kansas City has grown,” Gomez said. “With Scheels Overland Park, Swope Soccer Village and Compass Minerals. We have the National Development Center that Sporting Kansas City plays at, and then we also have the KC Current who have their new training facility coming online as well.”
This announcement and the access to play will serve as inspiration for what’s to come in 2026.
“We are a great sports town and I believe we are a great soccer town,” Hackett said.
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