Argentina fans have reported being shot at while traveling to their team's opening match of the 2026 World Cup against Algeria in Kansas City. According to an Argentine television crew, a passing car fired twice at their Uber, striking the driver in the leg.
Incident Details
The fans told Argentine outlet La Nacion that the incident occurred about 20 minutes before kick-off at 7:40 pm local time. One passenger initially mistook the gunfire for a burst tyre before realizing what had happened when the car braked. Police took the group to give a statement and then drove them to the stadium in patrol cars.
The motive for the alleged shooting remains unclear. Another fan claimed that similar incidents had already happened to three other cars. Kansas City ranked fourth in the nation in violent crime rate among cities with more than 100,000 citizens last year, according to FBI data.
In a notorious incident, a fatal shooting occurred during the Chiefs' Super Bowl championship celebration in February 2025, when local radio host Lisa Lopez-Galvan was killed by a stray bullet, and about two dozen others were wounded.
Match Highlights
Argentina kicked off their World Cup title defense with a comfortable 3-0 win, with legendary captain Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick. The 38-year-old broke down in tears during his record-equalling night, insisting it had nothing to do with football.
Messi's three-goal haul, his first for his country, moved him level with Miroslav Klose on 16 goals in the all-time top scorer rankings on what was also his 200th appearance for Argentina.
Thanking his teammates and staff post-match, Messi said: Honestly, completely unrelated to the sport, I went through some difficult, complicated days. I'm grateful to the entire delegation, to my teammates. They were always there for me, as always. They gave me a lot of strength to get through this, and that's all.
Argentina continue their World Cup campaign on Monday against Austria in Arlington.
