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Austrian fans packed FIFA Fan Fest on Friday, buzzing with excitement ahead of Saturday night's World Cup match as the city prepares for another historic moment.
Fans representing teams from across the globe — including Mexico, the United States, Norway and Austria — filled the festival grounds.
Earlier in the day, Grünauer, an Austrian restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, felt the World Cup excitement.
The restaurant has a unique connection to the visiting fans — Grünauer has a sister restaurant in Austria owned by the cousin of Nicholas, who owns the Kansas City location.
That connection allowed the restaurant to spread the word to Austrian fans traveling to town for the match.
Executive Chef Matthias Seyfrid said the restaurant has several reservations for the weekend and is expecting large crowds.
For Seyfrid, serving Austrian fans from abroad carries a deeper meaning than a typical dinner rush.
"Oh it feels great, especially when we're able to serve them things that hold childhood memories — something that mom cooked for them, something that grandma cooked for them or just comfort food. Just to give them a little piece of home while they're abroad, it can't get any better."
Seyfrid, who was born and raised in Germany, said the weekend has brought an added personal connection.
"I was born and raised in Germany and being able to speak German to someone, that's great. I don't get that every day," Seyfrid said.
At Fan Fest, an Austrian fan said the moment was too big to pass up.
"Totally amazing, I'm so buzzing," Max said. "It's been a great atmosphere, so far, here in America. Everyone's been so welcoming as well. I mean Austria hasn't been to World Cup for over two decades, so it was an absolute must to be here."
Max joked that he told his wife he had to make the trip, with or without her.
"It was one of those opportunities — I said to my wife, 'I got to go whether you say yes or no. I got to be there and soak this atmosphere in and live this experience,'" Max said.
Fellow Austrian fan, Ben, said the energy at Fan Fest was everything he hoped for.
"It's fantastic to catch the atmosphere and to have fun," Ben said. "That's the most important thing, and it'll be much more fun when Austria wins."
Austria's red and white colors were visible throughout the crowd as fans looked ahead to Saturday's match.
"We're looking really forward to Austria going to the next step, and we are really excited, with all of the Austrian fans here, to push our team to the win," Ben said.
Max said winning Saturday is the only thing on his mind.
"We're second at the moment, but it's really all about winning tomorrow," Ben said. "So, that's what I'm really hoping for, that we're going to see Austria winning."
Austria takes on Algeria in a Group J stage match at 9 p.m. Saturday at Kansas City Stadium. It will be available to watch on FS1.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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