KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Turns out that reigning World Cup champion Argentina draws quite a crowd no matter where it goes.
Whether it be fans surrounding the team's upscale hotel near downtown Kansas City, or their first training session opened to media Wednesday that drew hundreds of reporters to the facilities of Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City, there are few places that Lionel Messi and the rest of La Albiceleste are not the center of attention as the tournament draws near.
They begin their title defense against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium on June 16.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni revealed his 26-man World Cup roster last week. It is headlined by Messi, who turns 39 in less than a month, and features 17 players that were on the team that triumphed four years ago against France in the final in Qatar.
Messi has been dealing with muscle fatigue and a mild strain in his left hamstring. The team has said his recovery time will depend on “his clinical and functional progress,” though it seems unlikely that he will participate in its upcoming friendlies.
He came to the practice field after the rest of the team on Wednesday and did some conditioning work off to the side.
Argentina did not make any players or coaches available to speak to reporters. The team will continue training in Kansas City until it departs for the first of two World Cup tune-up matches against Honduras on Saturday in College Station, Texas.
The team plays Iceland in Auburn, Alabama, three days later before resuming its training in Kansas City.
Most of the players arrived at the team's home base Sunday aboard a charter from Buenos Aires designed to pay homage to the nation's rich World Cup history. The flight number 1978 was a nod to the year it beat the Netherlands to win the title, and the A330 was trimmed with special livery that included the national team colors and Messi’s No. 10 on the tail.
Messi joined the team on a separate charter from Florida a few hours later.
The entire roster got a dose of Midwestern hospitality from hundreds of fans who waited outside the Origin Hotel to greet them, then they got a big taste of summer life in tornado alley when sirens sounded after midnight and a heavy storm rolled through.
High winds and lashing rain knocked over several tents and fences that had been put up for security.
“When they pick you as their training site for defending the World Cup, and this is where they are for the next — you know, hopefully through the end of the tournament — it's surreal,” said Jake Reid, the president and CEO of Sporting Kansas City, who watched the open training session with a series of dignitaries that included Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas.
“When they landed on Sunday," Reid said, "it started to get real for sure.”
Weather notwithstanding, the central location of Kansas City has made it a favorable destination for World Cup base camps.
England had hoped to use the home of Sporting KC for training, but Argentina was given preference as defending champion and scooped it up. The Three Lions stuck with their plans to make Kansas City their base, but when they arrive next week, they will be practicing at Sporting KC's old primary facility at the Swope Soccer Village.
The Netherlands, which also will arrive next week, will be training at the home of the Kansas City Current, one of the top teams in the National Women's Soccer League. Algeria is making its base at the University of Kansas, about 30 minutes west of the Kansas City metro area, where one of Africa's top teams will have the use of its new soccer facilities.
As for Argentina, the team has been practicing in the evening to avoid the heat and humidity of Midwestern summers. The weather has been mild so far, with temperatures in the low 80s, but the heat index typically pushes triple digits this time of year.
The six matches at Arrowhead Stadium — four in the group stage, two in the knockout — will be played at night for the same reason.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
Argentina forward Lionel Messi works out during practice for the FIFA World Cup soccer Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Kansas City, Kan.. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Argentina forward Lionel Messi works out during practice for the FIFA World Cup soccer Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Kansas City, Kan.. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s interior minister accused activists of hijacking a tragedy to stir up violence after police were attacked at a protest over the death of a teenager who was handcuffed as he lay dying while his killer stood nearby.
Police were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares on Tuesday by some of the hundreds of people who attended a protest in the English southern coastal city of Southampton, where Henry Nowak was killed in December. Two people were arrested and 11 officers and a police dog were injured, police said.
Nowak's death has triggered debates about policing and knife crime and has spurred claims by far-right activists and politicians that there is bias against white people in the justice system.
Nowak’s killer, Vickrum Digwa, who is Sikh, falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist assault by 18-year-old Nowak, who was white. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded man as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday that the case had left “serious questions to answer, including how accusations of racism informed police thinking." But he called the street violence “disgraceful and completely unacceptable.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Nowak's family had "made a powerful call to us all yesterday to not let Henry’s death be used to create further division, hatred or tension.
“There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder. Those responsible can expect to face the full force of the law,” she said.
Digwa, 23, was convicted of murder and sentenced Monday to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years. The judge said he didn’t believe Nowak had said anything racist to his attacker.
After the sentencing, police released video showing officers dismissing Nowak when he told them he had been stabbed and repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates allegations of police wrongdoing, is probing the actions of the officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it will review its anti-racism guidance in the wake of the killing.
After the sentencing hearing, the victim’s father, Mark Nowak, said the case was not about racism or religion, and that he wanted his son’s death to lead to safer streets and not to be used to create “further division, hatred or tension.”
But Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, said on Tuesday that it was an example of so-called two-tier policing — a popular far-right talking point that claims ethnic minorities are better treated than white people.
Farage urged people to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage,” and said, “white lives matter just as much as Black lives.” X owner Elon Musk and British far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, have also expressed outrage at the crime.
Starmer said Farage's “appeal for rage” was “unforgivable.”
“I don’t believe there’s two-tier policing in this country," he said Wednesday in the House of Commons. “I’m really shocked that he pretends to have respect for Henry’s family and then acts in this way.”
In the wake of the killing, some politicians have called for Sikhs to be banned from carrying ceremonial knives, known as kirpans. The judge said Digwa had a small kirpan but also had an 8-inch (21-centimeter) sheathed Sikh dagger that was used as the weapon to kill Nowak.
Hampshire Police chief constable Alexis Boon said he understood the “desire for answers and accountability.”
“But that must be done in the right way and not used as an excuse to threaten and intimidate my officers and bring violence to our streets, causing fear and harm to those living and working in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,” he said.
People protest outside the police station in Southampton, England, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, one holding a photo of December 2025 stabbing victim Henry Nowak, 18. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)
People gather to protest outside Southampton police station, Southampton, England, Tuesday June 2, 2026, after the fatal stabbing of Henry Nowak, a British teenager who was handcuffed despite claiming he was the crime victim. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)
In this image taken from PA Video, police and protestors clash during a protest following the death of Henry Nowak, a 18-year-old student stabbed to death with a Sikh kirpan ceremonial by Vickrum Digwa, in Southampton, England, Tuesday June 2, 2026. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)
In this image taken from PA Video, police and protestors clash during a protest following the death of Henry Nowak, a 18-year-old student stabbed to death with a Sikh kirpan ceremonial by Vickrum Digwa, in Southampton, England, Tuesday June 2, 2026. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)
In this image taken from PA Video, police and protestors clash during a protest following the death of Henry Nowak, a 18-year-old student stabbed to death with a Sikh kirpan ceremonial by Vickrum Digwa, in Southampton, England, Tuesday June 2, 2026. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)
