KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business, including FIFA World Cup 26, and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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Kansas City will host six FIFA World Cup 26 games in June and July at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
That’s tied with Philadelphia, Santa Clara, California, and Seattle for the fewest among any of the tournament’s 11 U.S. venues, but Kansas City lucked out in terms of quality contests, star power and storylines.
Argentina, the reigning World Cup champions led by legendary attacking midfielder Lionel Messi, will play at least one game at Arrowhead along with the Netherlands, who are ranked seventh in the FIFA Men’s World Ranking.
If Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal win their group, they’re in line for at least one game in Kansas City as well, giving the BBQ Capital of America and the Soccer Capital of America immense star power from its allotment of games.
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The region could get even luckier on the base camp front with Argentina, the Netherlands, England and Algeria, which plays two group stage matches at Arrowhead, among the front-runners to spend up to a month before the tournament in Kansas City.
Here’s more on the second game that will be staged in KC:
GROUP E — ECUADOR VS CURAÇAO
TIME/DATE: 7 p.m., June 20
GET TO KNOW ECUADOR
FIFA World Ranking: No. 23
World Cup appearances: Fourth
Best World Cup finish: Round of 16 (2006)
Best nickname: La Tri
Head coach (Appointed, W-D-L w/ national team): Sebastián Beccacece (2024, 6-9-1)
Biggest star: Enner Valencia
Valencia — a forward, who currently plays for Pachuca in Mexico’s Liga MX — is the most prolific scorer in Ecuador’s history with 48 goals in 103 appearances, or caps.
That includes three goals apiece at the 2014 and 2022 World Cups for La Tri.
He played three seasons in the English Premier League, scoring 11 goals in 75 league matches across three seasons with West Ham United and Everton.
Valencia, a 36-year-old winger, has also played professionally in Ecuador and Brazil.
Star defensive midfielder Moises Caicedo, who plays for Chelsea, is Ecuador’s best player and a big reason their defense is so stingy, but he’s not a goalscorer, so La Tri will only go as far as Valencia can take them as the best attacking presence on the squad.
Population (world rank): 18,309,984 (68th)
Total area (world rank): 109,484 square miles (74th)
Gross national income, per capita (world rank): $6,430 (115th)
More about Ecuador: The first country to grant constitutional rights to nature, Ecuador’s name is derived from the fact that the equator bisects the country.
The Galapagos Islands, which inspired Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking theory of natural selection and evolution, are a province of Ecuador, which boasts more biodiversity than anywhere else on Earth.
Nearly one in six of the world’s bird species — more than 1,600 — are from Ecuador, which is the world’s leading exporter of bananas.
Contrary to its name, the Panama Hat actually comes from Ecuador, which you can buy with U.S. dollars because it’s the official currency of the South American nation.
Ecuador’s capital, Quito, is the country’s second-largest metropolitan area and the highest capital by elevation in the world.
The country’s highest point, Mount Chimborazo, is closer to outer space than any other place on Earth, reaching higher than even Mount Everest from the Earth’s core due to the way the planet bulges at the equator.
Ecuador is roughly the size of Nevada with four distinct regions, including part of the Amazon jungle.
GET TO KNOW CURAÇAO
FIFA World Ranking: No. 82
World Cup appearances: First
Best World Cup finish: n/a
Best nickname: The Blue Wave
Head coach (Appointed, W-D-L w/ national team): Dick Advocaat (2024, 11-6-3)
Biggest star: Leandro Bacuna
As is the case with many of Curaçao’s players and coaches, Bacuna, 34, was actually born in the Netherlands, but it’s hard to make the national team in his native country given the high-flying Dutch history.
With a lineage of Afro-Curaçaoan descent, Bacuna was eligible to play for The Blue Wave and is now tied for the most caps, or appearances, in the country’s history. He also serves as the squad’s captain.
Bacuna broke into professional soccer with his hometown side, Groningen, in the Eredivisie, which is the top league in the Netherlands.
He also spent 11 seasons in England — mostly playing in the second-tier Championship league with Aston Villa, Reading, Cardiff City and Watford — where he scored 17 goals across 324 appearances in all competitions.
After returning to Groningen for two seasons, Bacuna most recently joined Turkish side Bandırmaspor for the 2025-26 campaign, where he has six goals in 18 appearances for the first-division team.
Population (world rank): 153,289 (187th)
Total area (world rank): 171 square miles (198th)
Gross national income, per capita (world rank): $20,990 (65th)
More about Curaçao: Formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao’s national team was formally established in 2011 and is making its first World Cup appearance.
During previous iterations, as the Territory of Curaçao or Netherlands Antilles, the country never reached the World Cup, so Blue Wave fans went crazy after a scoreless draw against Jamaica delivered an automatic berth.
Part of CONCACAF, Curaçao is the smallest country by both population and area to reach a World Cup. It’s located about 40 miles north of Venezuela.
The entire Caribbean island nation would cover around 54% of Kansas City, Missouri, with a population roughly 30% its size.
It’s known for its signature sweet, orange liquor, often marketed as Blue Caraçao, and the island nation has produced a number of Major League Baseball players — including Andruw Jones and Kenley Jansen, among others.
ANALYSIS
Sleep on Ecuador at your own peril.
They don’t have the same star power or worldwide recognition as Argentina or Brazil, but La Tri finished second — behind only Messi’s Argentina side — in CONMEBOL, or South American, qualifying.
The lack of attacking firepower, Ecuador only scored 14 goals in 18 games during World Cup qualifying, prevents Beccacece’s squad from being a real threat in the tournament.
But Ecuador is a disciplined defensive group, allowing only five goals in 18 matches during qualifying. That’s half as many as the next two best defensive sides, Argentina and Paraguay, which each allowed 10 goals in CONMEBOL qualifying.
That defense prowess makes La Tri capable of pulling an upset in any match.
Caicedo, a defensive midfielder in his third English Premier League season with Chelsea, is a big reason why it’s so difficult to score on Ecuador.
But Curaçao is capable of playing some fantastic Dutch-inspired football utilizing a traditional, possession-based 4-3-3, building from the back and relying on the chemistry up top.
They are managed by Dick Advocaat, who coached the Netherlands at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. and South Korea at the 2006 World Cup.
Alongside Bacuna in the attack, Curaçao’s all-time leading scorer, Rangelo Janga, and his younger brother, Juninho Bacuna, are capable of magical goals together.
Tahith Chong — a former Manchester United academy player, who currently plays for Sheffield United in England’s second division — is one of the few native Curaçaoans expected to make the World Cup roster. He adds quality and depth on the wing.
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Sources: Countries by Area — CIA; Countries by Population — CIA; GNI per capita, Atlas method — World Bank