As the countdown clock ticks toward this summer’s World Cup, pieces are beginning to fall into place around Kansas City, which is hosting six matches. Bus routes have been announced, local watch parties are set and other festivities are on the schedule.
But the answer to one particular question remains elusive for Johnson County soccer fans.
Could any of the national teams coming to the U.S. this summer actually end up staying in Johnson County?
Several global soccer powerhouses are eyeing Kansas City as their base camp, according to international and local media reports.
That includes reigning World Cup champions Argentina, as well as England, the Netherlands and also Algeria.
That means the teams will train at a local facility — Sporting KC or the Kansas City Current’s training grounds, Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence or Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri — but they’ll have to put their heads down at night during the weeks-long competition.
So what are the odds if the team not only has base camp close by, but also chooses to stay in a Johnson County hotel?
What is a base camp?
A base camp is a consistent place for teams to train and prepare for matches during the tournament, which begins with a series of group stage matches on June 11.
Kansas City will host four group stage matches in June, plus a Round of 32 knockout match and a quarterfinal, both in early July.
Algeria, Argentina and the Netherlands are all set to play group stage matches in Kansas City. England — the fourth squad linked to a local base camp — is not, but international reports suggest teams are looking to settle in the metro due to its central location for flights to other venues around North America.
If the base camp requests become reality, England reportedly would train at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri, the Netherlands at the KC Current facility in Riverside, Missouri, and Algeria at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence.
None of this has been officially confirmed by FIFA, the organization that governs the World Cup tournament.
Still, the teams will have to eat and sleep somewhere, and that information, if it’s been decided yet, has been completely under wraps.
It’s not just the players needing rooms
A World Cup team presence is liable to make a big impact on any hotel.
It’s not just the 25-or-so players and subs. The delegation also includes coaches, trainers, medics, security, equipment and uniform managers and public relations staffers.
The England team, for example, might bring 60 to 80 people, a ballpark estimate confirmed by the team’s communications arm, though exact numbers for this year are unavailable.
If the past is any indication, they like nice things.
At the last World Cup in 2022 in Qatar, the English team stayed at Souq Al Wakra, about 10 miles from Doha.
That five-star hotel featured a private beach, treatment center, fitness center, pool and five restaurants. But it was a dry hotel that did not serve alcohol.
The Netherlands team was at the St. Regis Doha four years ago. It also had a private beach, Olympic-sized outdoor pool, bespoke spa treatments, poolside cabanas, gym and something called the “waves of sand experience” which involves quartz sand tables.
It’s unknown whether or how much the players took advantage of those amenities, but clearly, the bar for Johnson County hotels would be high.
Argentina, which won it all in 2022, stayed that year on campus at the Qatar University Hostel 1. Not much information is available about the amenities offered by the hostel. If they were lacking, it appeared not to have been a hindrance.
Algeria did not qualify for the World Cup in 2022.
Some Johnson County hotels are fully booked up
So far, organizers and Johnson County hoteliers have been tight-lipped, not sharing information about team stays even if they know it. The tea leaves are sparse, but there are a few.
An online check shows rooms are beginning to be booked, though most of the larger hotels checked showed some days available, even at markedly higher pricing.
So far, most Johnson County hotels have not been completely booked for every day of the tournament.
The exceptions are the Inn at Meadowbrook and the Overland Park Sheraton, which is connected to the Convention Center. These two hotels also have come up in conversations around the county as possible team sites.
The Sheraton was reported to have been ruled out as a base camp hotel site during planning a year ago.
However, its online booking app shows that all 412 rooms are booked from June 14 through July 12, with a message “Not available for check in” on each of those days during those weeks.
Management at the Sheraton did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
The smaller Inn at Meadowbrook in Prairie Village, with 54 rooms, is also completely booked from June 10 through July 18. Management at the Inn also did not respond for a request for comment.
For context, the last match played in Kansas City will be the quarterfinal on July 11. The tournament final will be played in New Jersey on July 19.
At least three other hotels in Johnson County are also booked full during the World Cup, but people answering at these places told the Post they did not expect any team stays.
The Courtyard by Marriott in Shawnee’s 90 rooms are reported all booked for June and July, Hilton Garden Inn in Olathe’s 106 rooms are booked from June 8 through July 11 and Embassy Suites in Olathe, with 200 rooms, is also reportedly completely booked June 13 through July 11.
Team training aside, World Cups tend to draw big, enthusiastic fan bases from all over. “Messi mania” drove big increases in Major League Soccer in the United States in 2024.
When Messi’s MLS team, Inter Miami, played at Arrowhead Stadium that year, it drew a soccer match record-breaking crowd of 72,610, and a pre-game parking lot full of events for the excited fans.
Elsewhere in the county, rooms appear to be filling fast, even with most showing higher prices during the tournament.
