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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The FIFA World Cup 26 Final Draw broke up the field of 48 teams into 12 groups of four in December 2025 when the tournament schedule, including kickoff times and venues, was announced.
Finally, Kansas City soccer fans — and those simply curious about a super-sized version of the planet’s biggest sporting event — learned the teams that will play in June and July at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
If you aren’t sure, it’s generally great news for the City of Fountains.
Argentina — the reigning World Cup champions led by global superstar Messi, an eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or as the international soccer player of the year — will open defense of their title on June 16 against Algeria.
The first time Messi played in Kansas City, it drew the fourth-largest crowd for a standalone MLS game in the league's history and shattered the attendance record for a soccer game in Missouri and at Arrowhead.
That record may not be in jeopardy, depending on the final stadium capacity during the World Cup, but that sort of crowd — probably a more rabidly passionate version given the circumstances and stakes — will be commonplace in Kansas City in a few months.
Technically, La Albiceleste’s roster, and those of the other 47 teams, including the six teams still to qualify via March's playoff matches, won’t be set for months, but it’s hard to fathom Argentina not naming Messi to the squad, barring injury.
Algeria will return to Kansas City 11 days later for its final Group J match against Austria.
In between, there will be a Group E match, pitting Ecuador against first-time World Cup qualifiers Curaçao on June 20, and a Group F clash between Tunisia and the world’s seventh-ranked team, the Netherlands, on June 25.
Kansas City will also host two knockout stage games at Arrowhead, a Round of 32 match July 3 and a tantalizing quarterfinal on July 11.
The Group K winner — most likely Portugal, though Colombia won’t go quietly — will play a third-place team from another group in the knockout stage opener.
If it is Cristiano Ronaldo’s Seleção das Quinas that emerges from Group K and Argentina wins Group J, it could set the two greatest players of this generation, and arguably ever, on a collision course in Kansas City’s quarterfinal.
Messi and Ronaldo have never squared off in a World Cup, but it would be the biggest sporting event in Kansas City’s history if it happens, which would be quite a coup for the self-styled Soccer Capital of America.
For more on the games that will be staged in the undisputed BBQ Capital of America, follow the links below for a deeper dive:
GROUP STAGE GAMES
June 16 — Group J: Argentina vs. Algeria
June 20 — Group E: Ecuador vs. Curaçao
June 25 — Group F: Tunisia vs. Netherlands
June 27 — Group J: Algeria vs. Austria
KNOCKOUT STAGE GAMES
July 3 — Round of 32
July 11 — Quarterfinal
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Sources: Countries by Area — CIA; Countries by Population — CIA; GNI per capita, Atlas method — World Bank