Gridlock: KC’s World Cup Debut Marred by Traffic, Saved by Messi

If you went to Argentina versus Algeria, you know getting to the game was quite the mess. Even if you didn’t go, there is no way you didn’t hear about it.

At the KC Soccer Journal we thought we were the lucky ones with our press parking pass. FIFA made the decision to limit parking down to just 4,000 spots. Arrowhead usually has 19,000 spots for a Kansas City Chiefs game. It was about the same for when Sporting Kansas City hosted Inter Miami (and Messi) two seasons ago.

The Chiefs regularly get around 80,000 people in and out of the complex without much trouble. Well, beyond the trouble of moving that many people anywhere.

FIFA has some lessons to learn.

On Tuesday, it was a debacle. Personally, I left three hours before kickoff. I had the tiniest of detours to pick up a colleague. But a 24-minute drive from the Northland turned into a two-hour and 55-minute journey that had me in the press box with a mere five minutes to spare before kickoff, where I captured the photo at the top of this story.

As you can see, people did make it in, even if it was hairy.

What Went Wrong Tuesday?

The accounts are endless. The KC Star chronicled traffic jams, bus delays and a woman and her 11-year-old hiking through the woods to make it to the game.

Why was it so hard for a bunch of buses and apparently no more than 4,000 vehicles to get into the stadium? It seems FIFA elected to only use two gates, when a typical Chiefs game uses eight. There are reports that multiple gates were opened at the last moment to alleviate the traffic.

Credit: Cody Bradley

There also was a shooting on the highway of an UBER driver before the game. Unconfirmed reports said I-70 was shut down. My own colleague looked as we passed over the highway and saw zero cars.

Some claim the shutdown was for the shooting, while others said the highway was shut down to move VVIPs into the stadium (very very?). There are a lot of rules in the contract Kansas City signed with FIFA, including the requirement to close roads to get special VIPs into the game. We know FIFA President Gianni Infantino meets that definition, but who else?

Whatever the reason, the KC Soccer Journal found ourselves pushed onto a side road and taking about two hours to drive the last 1.6 miles (photo to the right, with stadium lights in the distance). Traffic moved so slow, that I encouraged my colleague, Cody Bradley, to get out of the car and walk. He beat me to the stadium by a significant amount of time.

The Blame Game

In a statement, the committee in charge of the preparations, KC2026, placed the blame on FIFA.

“The primary challenge occurred at stadium entry, where operational constraints created congestion that affected all modes of transportation arriving at the venue. While decisions regarding stadium entry operations primarily rest with FIFA, based on yesterday’s experience, KC2026 and its partners have provided specific recommendations to improve operations ahead of Saturday’s match.”

There is no word on what those recommendations are, but presumably more gates being open is a jumping off point.

FIFA, on the other hand, released a statement that accepted no blame.

“This strong operational outcome was made possible through the close collaboration of FIFA, venue operations teams, local authorities, transportation partners and KC2026. FIFA and organizers will continue to work closely together to ensure that lessons related to traffic and transportation coordinated with local partners and access to the stadium precinct are learned ahead of the next matches and reiterate the request for fans to arrive early and enjoy the complete fan stadium programming. For FIFA, delivering the best possible experience for fans remains the utmost priority.”

Messi’s Magic Draws a Crowd

Perhaps it was just the Messi Effect. While Ecuador and Curacao have excited fans, no one travels quite like the Argentina fans hoping to see some Messi magic.

Messi Hat Trick Lifts Argentina over Algeria in Kansas City

Since Messi won’t be playing on Saturday, it probably won’t be quite as crazy. Plus, with it being a weekend, folks won’t be getting off work and rushing to the stadium and can instead plan to arrive quite early.

Saturday’s game will take on the utmost importance for Ecuador and Curacao. Both teams lost their openers. A win in the group stage brings a significant chance to advance, but only with a positive goal differential. Four points almost guarantees a team to advance according to The Athletic. If someone walks away with zero points, they face a stiff test in their final game. It’s almost must-win for each team.