Soccer icon Matt Besler: Other World Cup hosts are asking ‘How can we follow KC’s lead?’
April 7, 2026 | Nikki Overfelt Chifalu
Matt Besler takes a knee to speak with young athletes at Captains Soccer Club; photo by David Henderson
Kansas City might be the smallest city hosting FIFA World Cup games this summer, but it’s already showing the other 15 cities how to lead the way, Matt Besler shared.
Matt Besler, Captains Soccer Club; courtesy photo
“I know that it feels uncomfortable that, ‘Oh my gosh, the World Cup is already here and we’re not quite ready,’” continued the former Sporting Kansas City superstar (and U.S. National team player in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil). “In my observations, Kansas City is farther along than any other host city. I’m confident in saying that because of what I’ve seen and I’ve heard, and statistics will show we are farther along than other cities in a lot of different metrics.”
“And cities are now looking at Kansas City,” the Overland Park native added, “and saying, ‘OK, you all have set the example of what needs to happen and how people need to come together in order to achieve something; How can we follow Kansas City?’ which is awesome. It’s so cool.”
Kansas City is at the forefront, Besler believes, because of the ability of the region — and the humans on its roster — to collaborate.
“The leaders in this city, they have relationships,” he explained. “They know what it’s like to come together. They know what it’s like to work together.”
“That is one of our super powers,” he continued. “We feel this need to show up and we have pride for our city. We all come together and that’s been super helpful in this process. The bigger cities, I don’t know if their leaders get together like we do. I don’t know if they have relationships. I don’t know if they can text each other.”
“And when you don’t do that, it just makes it harder. It makes it awkward and it takes a lot longer to actually get stuff done on such a big scale.”
Matt Besler speaks with young athletes at a November 2025 practice; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Besler — captain of Sporting KC for seven of his 12 seasons and now director of Captains Soccer Club, a Kansas City-based competitive youth soccer program — knows what it’s like to be a leader on and off the pitch. He’s one the speakers at this year’s Leadercast Conference — with the theme “Championing the Leader Within” — planned for Thursday, April 9 at the Midland Theatre in downtown Kansas City.
Click here for tickets to Thursday’s Leadercast event.
Joining Besler as speakers at the one-day leadership conference: retired four-star General Paul Funk; Patrick Lencioni, New York Times best-selling author and founder and president of The Table Group; Andy Stanley, founder of North Point Ministries in Atlanta; and Kim Anthony, former gymnast and ESPN reporter/analyst, author, and personal development professional.
“I think there’s a misconception sometimes that people think you’re either a leader or you’re not,” Besler said. “Or you’re born being a leader or you’re not. There’s some truth to it; Some people naturally are better leaders than others; It comes easier to others. But I believe strongly that leadership is a skill and it can be practiced and it can be improved upon.”
Even before he was captain of his college team at Notre Dame, Besler always found himself in positions of leadership, he noted.
“It wasn’t until I got older, that I started to really think about what that means and to work at it,” he continued. “Leadership is a skill, and like any skill, you can get better at it and it takes work.”
“Later in my career, I started focusing on leadership,” he added. “I started learning more about it, reading, observing, and just working at it to become a better leader.”
Matt Besler distributes custom card packs from Stat Legend to members of Captains Soccer Club teams; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
When it came time to transition out of professional soccer, Besler took some much-needed time away from the game to shift his mindset, he shared, but quickly realized that the leadership skills he gained while playing the game equipped him for life after.
“A lot of lessons translate from sports to business or sports to real-life situations,” Besler explained. “In all honesty, it was pretty easy. Everything that I’ve been doing in the business world or in the club soccer world, I feel like I’m prepared. I feel like I’ve seen most of this.”
He views his time with Captains Soccer Club a lot like his time with Sporting, Besler noted.
“We have many leaders at Captains,” he continued. “I am one of the leaders, but it’s a team. We come together, we collaborate, and we try to achieve a goal together. And through that everybody has different roles and different leadership styles and roles.”
“Different arena — but to me — it all feels the same,” he added. “I feel like I’m on a team and I’m trying to accomplish a goal.”
As for Kansas City and its goal of showing its best during the World Cup spotlight, Besler said the city is off to a great start and its leaders should keep up what they’ve been doing.
“It’s about being organized and generating excitement and also generating opportunities for people to get involved,” he continued. “The World Cup, it’s the biggest sporting event in the world, so it should be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Kansas City’s leaders realize that and they are passionate about creating as many opportunities as possible.”
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