"This coming June, travelers from around the world will descend on Kansas City for the 2026 World Cup, with local matches being played at the 76,416-seat Arrowhead Stadium-the same place where American football fans usually cheer on the Kansas City Chiefs. The city is no stranger to international attention and the heavy flow of traffic that comes with it. KC's historic love for liquor and jazz and its tree-lined City Beautiful boulevards and parks once led Prohibition-era journalists to proclaim it the "Paris of the Plains.""
"But Kansas City might be better known these days for the cheers bleeding out of its riverfront soccer stadium-the first in the country purpose-built for a women's professional soccer team-or the wood smoke coiling up from hundreds of barbecue pits. While Kansas City serves as a gateway to both the West and South, the city itself is thoroughly Midwestern, and its cowtown roots shine through in its barbecue pits, old-school steakhouses, and cowboy-lite aesthetic."
Kansas City will host six World Cup matches in June and July 2026 at Arrowhead Stadium, a 76,416-seat venue normally home to the Kansas City Chiefs. The city combines historic jazz, blues, liquor culture, and tree-lined boulevards with a modern sports scene and a riverfront soccer stadium built for a women's professional team. Barbecue smoke and old-school steakhouses reflect its cowtown roots and Midwestern hospitality. The metro straddles the Missouri-Kansas border, with most attractions on the Missouri side. The fall shoulder season, September through November, offers pleasant weather and active local professional sports across MLB, NFL, MLS, and NWSL.
Read at Conde Nast Traveler
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