Kansas City will be the smallest city in North America to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But it may not have embraced the sport at all, if not for the efforts of immigrants who fought for the beautiful game — before there were even soccer fields to play on.

In less than a year, Kansas City will welcome the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and hundreds of thousands of soccer fans. This moment is helping cement the city as an international soccer destination, but it wasn’t always this way. From the podcast “A People’s History of Kansas City,” Suzanne Hogan reports on the city's soccer beginnings.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison. It is produced by Byron Love, Carter Galloway, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox, Emily Younker and Gabe Rosenberg.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.