England players were performing at a community event in Kansas City on Saturday night when the emergency weather warning was issued.
England national team’s public practice in Kansas City ends midway
England’s players were told to evacuate after a tornado warning was issued in Kansas City on Saturday night.
After an initial camp in Miami, the Three Lions relocated to Kansas City. However, preparations for the first match against Croatia were affected by severe weather warnings.
Thomas Tuchel’s players held a public training session before all local residents were notified. The notice read: “Serious. Warning of imminent threat.
“National Weather Service: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect for this area until 9:00 PM CDT due to damaging winds of 80 mph. Please seek shelter in a sturdy building away from windows.”
“Flying debris could be deadly to those trapped without shelter. For protection, move indoors to the lowest floors of buildings. A tornado watch remains in effect for northeast and east central Kansas and west central Missouri until 11:00 PM CDT.”
Screams heard across the city issued a chilling warning to locals and World Cup tourists alike to evacuate for their own safety as dangerous and stormy weather loomed.
Fans who had hoped to spend Saturday at the FIFA Fan Festival in Kansas City had their plans cut short and the venue closed by 5 p.m. after the National Weather Service warned of gusty 80 mph winds.
England will train as usual at Swope Soccer Village today, but the schedule has been changed from morning to late afternoon.
A tornado watch was in effect for the entire metropolitan area until 11pm local time, but for soccer fans, the damage was already done. A massive power outage halted the game in Scotland, brought festivities to an abrupt end in Missouri’s capital, and prompted tourists and locals alike to shelter in place.
The National Weather Service confirmed that two tornadoes had touched down in the Kansas City area just before 9 p.m., leaving more than 68,000 homes without power. Downed power lines and downed trees have been reported across the city, and first responders are now scrambling to make neighborhoods safe.
As a result, the screening of Scotland’s opening World Cup match against Haiti was canceled. John McGinn scored the only goal of the game as Tartan Army toasted their first win in the competition in 36 years.
Fox’s coverage of the game was squeezed into a small panel on the screen due to an emergency weather advisory.
Scotland’s historic victory missed out due to bad weather (Image: Getty Images)
The weather is just the latest disruption to England’s rocky start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup so far, with the Three Lions revealed to have been the victim of theft last Friday. Their base was raided for training equipment, including boots and official tournament balls, and the stolen items were subsequently recovered. Tuchel’s England open their World Cup game against Croatia in Texas on Wednesday, before playing Group L matches against Ghana and Panama.
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