Fans heading to Kansas City’s second World Cup match this weekend are hoping for a different experience than what happened during the city’s opening game.
Tuesday’s showdown between Argentina and Algeria gave fans Lionel Messi’s record setting goals and his first hat trick at the World Cup. It also brought them hours of traffic getting to Arrowhead Stadium, which is renamed Kansas City Stadium during the tournament.
Traffic got so bad ahead of the match that many fans exited their vehicles and walked over a mile to the stadium to get in before the first whistle.
What went wrong?
FIFA opened only two of the sports complex’s seven entrances for the match. That, combined with a short entry period and confusion over rideshare and transit lanes, led to hours of backup.
A spokesperson for KC2026, the city’s tournament planning committee, said the group is working to make transportation and entry to the stadium smoother for Kansas City’s remaining five matches.
“The primary challenge occurred at stadium entry, where operational constraints created congestion that affected all modes of transportation arriving at the venue,” a KC2026 spokesperson said in a statement.
“While decisions regarding stadium entry operations primarily rest with FIFA, based on (Tuesday’s) experience, KC2026 and its partners have provided specific recommendations to improve operations ahead of Saturday's match.”
Such changes may include opening more gates into the Truman Sports Complex, creating a bus-only lane for KC2026 transportation and opening the gates earlier.
@kcur893 Kansas City’s World Cup organizers are racing to fix issues with the stadium transit system after fans got stuck in hourslong traffic jams before the Argentina-Algeria match — with many people missing kickoff due to the delays. Many fans reported on social media that they were forced to ditch their official ConnectKC26 shuttles and rideshares and instead walk several miles to Arrowhead Stadium just to get there in time. KC2026 has asked FIFA for changes before Saturday’s match between Ecuador and Curaçao — the next major stress test for the system. But it’s not clear what, if anything, will be different. KCUR’s Zach Perez was one of the people caught in gameday traffic. 📹Starring, written and produced by Zach Perez 🖥️Edited by Gabe Rosenberg #kansascity #worldcup #transit ♬ original sound - KCUR - Kansas City
Despite the trouble getting to the match, fans Tuesday had a mostly positive response to KC2026’s regional and airport transportation.
Brad Dethloff drove from Milwaukee to Kansas City for the tournament. He and his group used ConnectKC26’s region direct service to get to the FIFA Fan Festival.
“As we drove, we looked to see where we could get on a bus and it ended up being right next to where we were going to eat,” Dethloff said. “We got off, ate, and literally got on the bus and came here (FIFA Fan Festival). So far it's been great. The bus was there and left probably 10-15 minutes after we got on, and came straight to here with no problem.”
A representative for KC2026 said one of the reasons there were long wait lines for the buses going to the stadium was because many attendees went to the different bus malls before their designated time slot, and some even before the buses arrived.
After Tuesday’s stress test, KC2026 plans to designate more buses to high-traffic areas ahead of Saturday’s match. The planning committee also recommends that fans wait to get to the stadium direct bus until their pre-booked time.
The committee is also working with FIFA to change some of the factors that led to the overwhelming congestion around the stadium earlier in the week.
What to know about Kansas City's World Cup match Saturday
The Ecuador-Curaçao match begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 20.
ConnectKC26 will begin its stadium direct service three hours before kickoff and run it until two hours after the game ends. Passes are $15 and are available from all stadium direct locations except for the Overland Park and North Kansas City park and rides, which are sold out.
The free FIFA Fan Festival will be open on the grounds of the National WWI Museum and Memorial from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday.
Screens will show the Netherlands-Sweden match at noon and the Germany-Ivory Coast match at 3 p.m. before presenting the Ecuador-Curaçao match at 7 p.m. Boss Hooligan Soundsystem, Jeon Arvani, Cimafunk, Morgan Stanton Hybrid Experience and Deshica Rage (Kadesh Flow & Jessica Paige) will perform throughout the day.
