Kansas City, MO. – One of the world’s best soccer teams will be in Kansas City for the World Cup.
Argentina will train or have their base camp at Sporting Kansas City’s Compass Minerals National Performance Center in Kansas City, Kansas. However they will live across the river on the Berkeley Riverfront.
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Port Casey President and CEO John Stephens spoke about the national team at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, February 23. The world’s best football player Lionel Messi will be in the city in three months.
“That will obviously be a closed area, highly secure,” Stephens told his commissioners. “So the Port Casey team is dealing with all the layered events and private security and public policing and all that, but the reigning world champions will be based right here on the Berkeley riverfront.”
Stephens said the fact that they will be here will definitely attract a lot of attention.
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He said, “I can say with certainty that the Argentina team attracts literally thousands of daily visitors who simply want to be close to where the team will be.”
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Stephens said his team is working hard to make sure the entire riverfront is ready.
“I don’t think Kansas City knows what they’re going to expect this summer between Argentina, Netherlands, England, Algeria, it’s going to be absolutely tremendous,” Leawood, KS resident Alan Jones said in an interview with FOX4.
Jones is originally from Wales and is a big football fan.
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When Jones was asked how many people he thought would be at the riverbank to catch a glimpse of Macy’s, he said, “You won’t be able to get here.” “You won’t be able to move. It will be absolutely crazy.”
Independence resident Paula Glaser says the team’s stay on the riverfront could be good for businesses like Two Birds One Stone. She is also making a comeback during the FIFA World Cup.
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“I wanted to be a part of history here in Kansas City,” Glaser said in an interview with FOX4. “So, what better way than to volunteer and be a part of it like this.”
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In February, a spokesperson for KC2026, the non-profit organization that handles World Cup matches in the city, explained that FIFA typically requires teams to arrive at their base camp five days before their first match. Argentina will play Algeria on June 16 at 8 pm
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