KANSAS CITY — The FIFA Women's World Cup finals happened thousands of miles away in Paris, but the love for Team USA was felt in Kansas City on Sunday.
Many soccer fans traveled to the city and joined local fans to watch the match in downtown's Power and Light District.
"But I live in Columbia, so that's about two hours," soccer fan Aaron Stout said.
Soccer fans arrived hours before the match started to get a good seat.
"We thought we were going to be pretty early, maybe not the only ones here. But, we thought we would get a pretty good spot. But, there was a lot of people when we showed up," Annie Hoog said. She was there with her family and they got there two hours early.
Organizers were shocked by the turnout.
"Now the crowds are five, six thousand. Who knows if we get to 10,000 today. It's so exciting and it makes me so proud of our city that we really show the world," David Ficklin, executive director for World Cup 2026 said.
At the same time, the KC Sporting Commission is working behind the scenes to get some of the 2026 men's world cup matches to Kansas City.
"This absolutely helps our bid. If you look at our crowds, they are the national broadcast. They are being shown across the world now, and combine that with the television ratings, it's really proof that what we say, we are the soccer capital of America. We love our soccer here," Ficklin said.
The game kicked off at 10 a.m. and Team USA and Team Netherlands went back and forth.
Halfway through the game, no one had scored.
"Just keep playing their game. Just continue to be who they are and play their game. We will come out on top," Katie Sowers, who has loved the team since she was a kid said.
The optimism paid off.
The team won 2-0 and will be taking home the coveted trophy.
"It feels good. I think we made a point that USA is at the top of women's soccer and we are on top of soccer in general. That's what we are trying to prove," soccer fan Liz Sowers said.
Power and Light ended up being at capacity for the match. There were 10,000 people there total in the live area and all of the restaurants.
