Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has participated in three Super Bowl parades and one World Series parade celebrating his hometown Chiefs and Royals.
None compared to when Netherlands fans marched through downtown Kansas City, Missouri, ahead of their team’s June 25 game at Arrowhead Stadium.
“It is special and different,” Lucas said, with a politician’s reluctance to get on the wrong side of a beloved hometown team.
Kansas City will host its knockout round game Friday: a match between Colombia and Ghana. Lucas was instrumental in making it happen, a key player in Kansas City’s bid to bring the World Cup to Missouri. Now he is basking in the moment — dancing to “Links Recht” with the Dutch, waving around an Ecuadorian flag and dancing with Mexican fans.
Like nearly every host city, Kansas City faced criticism ahead of the games over the challenging logistics of herding thousands of fans to a stadium that’s used to tailgaters instead of international tourists, the sky-high price of tickets and underwhelming hotel bookings.
Those concerns appear to have dissipated with the arrival of thousands of fans, which brought forth a cultural exchange that inspired the University of Kansas marching band to memorize the Algerian national anthem; caused Boston cops to stand by as Scotsmen decorated the city’s statues with traffic cones; and left Frenchmen puzzled as to why “Go Birds” comes at the end of interactions in Philly.
“I think it’s a huge win for us,” Lucas said. “I know there’s some discourse and scuttlebutt on the wisdom or not of some American cities, and not applying to be World Cup host countries. I have never regretted it, and I certainly don’t regret it right now.”
Kansas City is the only Midwestern city to host games, after Chicago passed on making a bid. Lucas said the experience of serving as the representative for the middle of the country has allowed Kansas City to be “central diplomats” for the United States, welcoming in foreign fans with barbecue and block parties.
“Say what you will about what happens in corridors in Washington, Brussels or beyond,” Lucas said. “We’ve had the chance to share the best of America. And I think the best of America is its welcoming environment.”