Two truck drivers charged in England World Cup gear theft in Kansas City

England’s World Cup operation in Kansas City was jolted by a shipping failure, not a headline-grabbing heist. When the team’s logistics crew unloaded a shipment at Swope Soccer Village on Thursday, several items were missing from the trailer, triggering a police inquiry into how England’s gear was handled between West Palm Beach, Florida, and its Kansas City base.

Two Texas truck drivers, Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal, were each charged in Jackson County, Missouri, with one felony count of receiving stolen property. Court records cited in local coverage said both men told detectives they believed they had permission to take the items. Kamal reportedly said he saw a laborer taking shoes in Florida and later contacted someone connected to the English Football Association, while Salik gave a similar account.

Police later searched the truck cab and recovered what investigators estimated was about $18,145 in property. The haul included autographed team jerseys, soccer cleats, a World Cup soccer ball, goalkeeper gloves, team apparel, a JBL speaker and other merchandise. The English Football Association confirmed the theft but declined to provide further details because the police investigation was still active.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said public safety officials at the local, state and federal levels were working to trace where the items were taken and identify everyone involved. The case has underscored how a team’s support operation can be vulnerable even when the missing items are not part of the match-day equipment that decides results on the field.

That distinction matters for England, which chose Kansas City as its World Cup base because of the city’s central location. The team’s group-stage schedule included travel to Dallas, Boston and New Jersey, and its opener against Croatia was set for Wednesday in Dallas. England arrived in Kansas City on Saturday after completing a pre-tournament training camp in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Swope Soccer Village had already been announced in February 2026 as England’s Team Base Camp Training Site for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The team was staying at a boutique hotel in Prairie Village while training at the facility branded The Home of England, making the shipment theft a reminder that major-event preparation on U.S. soil depends on mundane but essential chain-of-custody controls as much as it does on players, coaches and tactics.