This story was first published in KCUR’s Adventure newsletter. You can sign up to receive stories like this in your inbox every Tuesday.
You’d have to be living under a rock to not know that Kansas City will host six World Cup matches – including a quarterfinal game – in June 2026.
That — and the 600,000 visitors the city is expecting — is huge in and of itself. But it’s really just icing on the cake when you consider that the KC region is already home to not one but two popular professional sports teams, along with successful university and high school programs.
With so much live soccer literally all around you, you could head to a stadium, or you can also take in league play and watch international games at local bars.
Sporting, Current, and Comets, oh my!
One of the founding (and very successful) teams of Major League Soccer is Sporting KC. The team has won numerous championships, including the MLS Cup in 2000 and 2013, the Supporters’ Shield in 2000, and the U.S. Open Cup in 2004, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
Sporting plays their home matches in Kansas City, Kansas, at Children’s Mercy Park near the Legends.
- Children’s Mercy Park, 1 Sporting Way, Kansas City, KS 66111
- Stadium capacity: 18,467 for matches and up to 25,000 for concerts.
- Tickets run as low as $20.
Kansas City’s soccer scene was re-energized in 2021 with the formation of the Current, a National Women’s Soccer League team that in only four years has been runner up in the league championship (2022) and made a semifinal appearance just last year.
Also last year: The team sold out all its home games (11,500 attendance) at its brand new and history-making CPKC Stadium.
As a bonus, the food scene at CPKC Stadium is out of sight. Diners can expect everything from barbecue to outstanding street nachos to acai bowls and much, much more.
If you’re not able to score a ticket to a game, you also have a few options for watching or streaming Sporting and Current games. Check out KCUR’s guide here.
If you love fast-paced sports, indoor soccer is a great option, and the Kansas City Comets are our indoor team. They play out of Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence and are a member of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MASL).
Think you have what it takes? You’re in luck — the Comets hold open tryouts!
More great soccer teams to follow
The Kansas City area’s university teams are making waves as well.
Last year, UMKC’s men’s soccer team made it into the NCAA round of 16 for the first time in program history. Meanwhile, Rockhurst University is a Division II powerhouse, with 17 men’s and women’s teams appearing in the NCAA tournament over the years and the school fielding four men’s semifinal teams.
Our high schools are rich in soccer traditions, too. On the Kansas side, West KC metro schools dominate the state championships year in and year out. On the Missouri side, St. Louis – whether we’re talking boys or girls soccer – is often home to a given year’s champions, but KC has had its winners.
For those who are really into soccer and want to see young regional talent in an outstanding setting, Rockhurst High School’s Dasta Memorial Stadium (9301 Ward Parkway) is a must-visit. Built in 2017, you’d think you were at a college’s athletic complex. The modern facility even features small conference rooms for individual player review. The stadium is home to Severino Field, named after retired Rockhurst coach Tony Severino – a Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Beyond organized play at the college and high school level, a quick skim of Reddit will show you that Kansas City is abuzz with leagues, with one contributor positing that the scene is “kinda unreal” given that “all of the current complexes are packed from sun up to sun down on weekends and most of the fields are rented out all week for practices.”
Demand is high enough that people report the referee association has trouble keeping up with demand. And Kansas City’s status as a regional soccer hub pulls in teams from all over Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Play at Kansas City’s soccer complexes
If you or a young family member is league-curious, maybe drop in on one of our metro’s complexes to see if the vibe is for you.
On Kansas City’s southwest side, there’s the Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex (13700 Switzer Rd.) which offers 96 acres and 12 lighted, regulation-size synthetic turf fields. There’s also a fieldhouse, concessions area, playgrounds and more.
On the southeast side you’ll find Swope Soccer Village (6310 Lewis Rd.). Managed by Sporting KC, this complex features nine fields: six full-sized with synthetic surfacing and three natural grass pitches. Also on site is “Championship Field” with seating for 1,500. There’s a concessions area but only restrooms – no fieldhouse.
Not a soccer-specific complex but one nevertheless popular with local leagues, Central Bank Sporting Complex (9101 N. Line Creek Parkway) opened in 2022 and is effectively the Northland’s primary multi-sport complex. It is home to 10 synthetic turf fields and is 76 acres in total.
Kansas City’s leagues, indoors and out
If you’re ready to try your feet at some league play, you have options.
SCCRKC, or “Kansas City’s Soccer Club,” is one of those classic “community driven” sport ambassador organizations that supports both leagues and pickup games across the city. The leagues are seven-on-seven and games are played on turf fields. Leagues are also mixed-gender unless otherwise specified and are divided into social, intermediate and competitive play.
Interested in the speed and intensity of indoor soccer? Soccer Nation (520 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106) is a newer 40,000 square-foot facility in Kansas City, Kansas, and the only indoor facility in that part of the metro. You’ll find leagues for youths and adults here as well as clinics and other social, soccer-related events.
Soccer Dome (5909 Equitable Rd.), located west of Interstate 435 just north of East Front Street, is a FIFA-certified turf facility and the first indoor option on the Missouri side. The enterprise recently expanded to include a second playing surface, and the organization boasts a MASL-size field that they say is “the largest indoor playing space” in town.
Although there are many soccer league options in the Kansas City area, Sporting Kaw Valley (3120 Mesa Way, Lawrence, KS 66049) is the official Sporting KC academy affiliate. A nonprofit founded in 1982, this Lawrence organization formed when Topeka’s Prodigy Youth Soccer Club and Lawrence’s Kaw Valley Soccer Association merged.
Today, nearly 2,200 3-to-19-year-olds participate in the league’s programs.
Watching the beautiful game in bars
Alex Lorenzo
/
Sporting KC
Maybe it’s the cozy camaraderie shared in a booth with friends, team scarfs at the ready, or perhaps it’s the exhilaration of celebrating a huge goal with absolute strangers, but watching soccer with die-hard fellow fans is something unto itself.
You might be thinking this just sounds like an experience you could have watching American football at some chain wing bar. Wrong.
Do you sing history-laden songs when your NFL team scores a touchdown? Do you sailor-style curse your fave pro player with a fury reserved for mother-murdering marauders when they drop a pass? You don’t.
Futbol is life, as some say, and in Europe, Latin America and many other corners of the world, that life is wildly palpable in a team-dedicated soccer bar, pub or restaurant.
While Kansas City does have lots of great sports bars where you can likely catch a Sporting or Current game, some have made soccer more central — and that’s where you want to head.
On the Sporting KC side, you can check out their Pub Partners page for a network of soccer-focused bars and restaurants across the metro.
The 11-option list includes more corporate-feeling venues like Power & Light’s No Other Pub (a Sporting-affiliated venue) and Chicken N Pickle but also local faves like Jefferson’s (the Lenexa location) and The Peanut (North KC location).
On the Current side, The Dub (105 W. 9th St.) should definitely top your list. The still-in-progress women’s sports bar has recently conducted pop-ups for away Current matches. They’ve been making waves and have even been featured on CBS Saturday Morning!
Gael’s Public House (5424 Troost Ave.) hosts big Current crowds for every away game. This pub features a unique menu, too, with English staples like shepherd’s pie but also domestic faves like tacos and regional items like bierocks.
Pathlight Brewing (11200 W. 75th St. in Shawnee) is a regular spot for the Current’s die-hard fan troupe the Blue Crew, and so is Brewer’s Kitchen & Corner (3107-3105 Gillham Road, ste. 100). For the pet-having Current fans out there, Bar K (501 Berkley Parkway) has hosted watch parties, and Double Tap (310 Oak St.), a VR and gaming pub, is also recommended.
We would be remiss, though, if we did not mention one of the region’s most soccery-soccer pubs: Lawrence’s Red Lyon Tavern. This establishment dubs itself a pub – not a bar – and is a great venue to watch European games. In fact, a recent Facebook post noted the pub would be showing 18 Champions League matches in one evening.
