Ghana and Colombia arrive in Kansas City for World Cup match
Ghana national team players and staff members waved to fans as they got off the bus outside the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel on Wednesday, July 1, 2026.
ecuriel@kcstar.com
The Beatles once sang, “You say goodbye and I say hello,” and that’s what Kansas City did with World Cup teams.
The Netherlands team departed Kansas City early Wednesday, after losing their Round of 32 match, and Algeria officially left Lawrence, even though the team has yet to play its knockout match.
But two other World Cup teams arrived Wednesday as Ghana and Colombia got to town ahead of their Round of 32 match Friday at Kansas City Stadium (aka Arrowhead).
“The Black Stars,” which is Ghana’s team nickname, have been one of the most successful African teams in the World Cup history. This is the fifth World Cup for the team, and it’s the third time they have advanced to the knockout stage.
After defeating Panama 1-0 in their first World Cup group-stage game, Ghana played to a scoreless draw with England before losing 2-1 to Croatia.
Ghana will be staying at the Sheraton Hotel near Crown Center, and they will have a practice session Thursday morning at Sporting Park before their match.
Colombia also has a training session at Sporting Park, but it will be in the afternoon following news conferences by the coaches of both teams.
“Los Cafeteros” (the Coffee Growers) is one of Colombia’s nicknames. They advanced to the match in KC by winning Group K over Portugal.
The first to arrive in Kansas City was Colombia, whose plane touched down around 4 p.m. Wednesday. Ghana was due to arrive around 6:30 p.m. — the plane arrived slightly after.
Colombia’s bus was seen heading toward their hotel, as Harold Kuntz of WDAF-TV shared video on social media.
Ghana and Colombia will kick off at 8:30 p.m. Friday with the winner advancing to the Round of 16 and loser heading home.
Includes reporting by The Star’s Eric Adler
This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 9:43 PM.
From covering the World Series to the World Cup, Pete Grathoff has done a little bit of everything since joining The Kansas City Star in 1997.