KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Continuing preparations for the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a capacity crowd squeezed into Children’s Mercy Park for a tournament tune-up on Sunday.
Despite no goals scored between USA and Uruguay, some consider Kansas City the big winner as it hosted another standing-room-only international friendly with relative ease.
“This is a soccer city,” Grant Wahl, a soccer analyst for CBS sports, told KSHB 41 ahead of the game. “And I think that's gonna help when you're bidding for World Cup games.”
Named one of the FIFA’s finalist cities to host 2026 World Cup games, Wahl says some in the group’s organizing body are stumping for the city of fountains.
“If I had to list my 10 [host cities] right now, I would include Kansas City as my tenth and final one,” Wahl said. “The Hunt family has had such an impact on soccer in this country and getting it going over the years."
FIFA is set to announce the 2026 World Cup game locations on June 16, and Wahl said organizers are pulling for Kansas City to be awarded games.
“There's people inside the World Cup organizing group that really want the Hunt’s and Kansas City to get games,” Wahl finished.
📹VIDEO: Caught up with soccer talker Grant Wahl (@grantwahl) pregame, who thinks Kansas City has a legit shot at hosting World Cup games in 2026: "[KC] is on the bubble." pic.twitter.com/f6P44WvYge
— Aaron Ladd (@aaronladd0) June 5, 2022
The United States, Mexico and Canada are combining to host the 2026 World Cup, with matches held in each country.
Wahl believes Kansas City's soccer footprint and culture will push its bid over the top.
“It's really incredible to see what a soccer culture has been built here,” Wahl added. “You can say ‘Look, we have a real soccer culture here in Kansas City.'”
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