photo by: AP Photo/Themba Hadebe

Algeria players pose ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Nigeria and Algeria, in Marrakech, Morocco, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.

Even as it always looked likely that Lawrence would serve as a base camp for an international soccer team during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Jason Booker, the University of Kansas’ deputy athletic director and a member of the effort to bring a team to town, didn’t feel totally, 100% certain it would work out for quite some time.

“Until we announced it yesterday, you always have a little bit of something in the back of your head,” Booker said on Friday, “of like, ‘Is there a contract snag?’ ‘Is there something else that goes along in the process, hotel selections, all of those things?’ Until we officially got it announced, I think there was always this hesitation.”

However, the members of the Lawrence 2026 group guiding the effort were pretty sure the Algerian national team was bound for Lawrence after its leadership came to town for a successful visit three weeks prior to Thursday’s announcement. And now, after years of work and seven nations visiting and considering Lawrence, it’s official with Algeria, and the city will be one of four host sites located in the Kansas City area housing teams for this summer’s World Cup.

The Algerians will train at Rock Chalk Park and stay at The Oread hotel. Algeria is the only team set to play multiple group-stage matches at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, but three other nations — Argentina at Sporting Kansas City’s facilities, the Netherlands at the Kansas City Current’s and England at Swope Soccer Village, which is also owned by Sporting KC but was not originally a proposed base camp — saw fit to locate themselves in the area.

“At first we were like, ‘Gosh, how could we get three teams in Kansas City?’, and now we ended up with four, so I think that narrative changed a lot with the central location and I think the support that soccer gets in our area,” Booker said. “I think people really felt that passion, and I think that solidified a lot of interest in the region and area.”

Early on, the Lawrence group thought a team like England or Argentina might be a possibility. But with those nations focused on Kansas City, Lawrence 2026 found common ground with Algeria.

“I think we were trying to be somewhat realistic of what type of country we could get in Lawrence, and then, I think, trying to find the right country that felt like they wanted to be a part of maybe a little bit smaller community,” Booker said. “A campus community has a little different vibe, and I think that we always thought that there’s certainly countries that are a little more communal. A Japan, or others that might say, ‘Hey, we want to be kind of off the beaten path a little bit and kind of have our own area and somebody who’s really going to embrace us as a team in the community.'”

The work of building alignment between the incoming Algerians and the city of Lawrence is well underway. As Booker explained, one of Lawrence’s assets was the presence of KU, for the possibility of “translators, could be different cultures, things that we can really adapt pretty well to whoever it was going to be.”

Plenty of adaptation will be required in all. For example, Booker said they will need to make religious accommodations for members of a heavily Muslim country. He recounted a recent dinner at 715 with Algeria’s director of operations during which a representative of the restaurant recommended a butcher in Lenexa who could cater halal meat for the team.

“I think that kind of comfort level of knowing, like, hey, we’re going to have support here in trying to fit those needs culturally, I think that’s something that really kind of came forward to me,” Booker said. “And then understanding we’re going to have to really embed ourselves, and understand, you know, currency, language, all of the things that go with that, right, in trying to prepare.”

On the other hand, there’s also the possibility of reciprocally introducing Algeria and its fans to KU. That could mean educating them on the history of basketball and figures like James Naismith, or allowing them to take advantage of amenities like the KU Conference Center, perhaps for some sort of soccer watch party: “Maybe it’s not their match, but maybe it’s just something else where they can come and utilize some of those new assets that we have as well.”

Booker, who is also the sport administrator for the KU women’s soccer team, brought a representative of Algeria to the Jayhawks’ training.

“They got to meet him and to kind of talk about that, and for them to see and feel our soccer culture, I wanted them to see that like hey, we’ve got high level teams here,” Booker said, “and he was watching our team practice and he looked at me like, ‘Holy cow. This is different.'”

Algeria will certainly be the focus of Lawrence’s and KU’s efforts. But as Booker pointed out, Lawrence is close enough to the other teams in the region to appeal to them as well. He mentioned the possibility of hosting some sort of event for England fans to help promote the KU football brand ahead of the Union Jack Classic that the Jayhawks are playing in London in September.

It’s sure to be a busy few months ahead, even for an experienced “events company,” as Booker put it, like KU Athletics. The World Cup is now less than four months away, with its opening match on June 11 and Algeria’s first match on June 16 against Argentina.