How St. Louis prepared for the World Cup and where to watch the matches

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - St. Louis has prepared itself for the biggest World Cup ever.

This year’s World Cup is being hosted in Mexico, Canada and the United States, with one of the host cities being Kansas City.

While St. Louis may not be hosting games during the tournament, it has prepared itself for soccer fanatics.

Security in the region

Lambert International Airport has prepared for the incoming flights during the World Cup.

“We do expect a larger influx of people coming into the St. Louis area to attend the games in Kansas City or watch some of the practices in Kansas City, so we are working with our vendors,” Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Director of St. Louis Lambert International Airport, told First Alert 4.

The airport will have gear supporting the countries playing in Kansas City on sale and anticipates an increase in tourists in St. Louis.

In addition, Hamm-Niebruegge said the airport has increased the number of overhead announcements in different languages.

“You’ll hear them in Spanish, you’ll hear them in German, you’ll hear them in French. We’ll make sure that we have plenty of volunteers on staff that can help anyone coming in that doesn’t speak English that needs support, as well,” Hamm-NieBruegge said.

Hamm-NieBruegge said the airport has prepared itself for an increase in travelers.

“Anytime we have large crowds, large influxes, you step up security and we’ll be doing that as well,” Hamm-Niebruegge said. “We got very good support here, with our Custom Border and Protection, with our TSA, with our local airport police, but also the surrounding communities, and any of the police forces and surrounding communities. We don’t anticipate any problems coming from that.”

Hamm-Niebruegge suggested that travelers who are not traveling for the World Cup research where to park, among other things, before arriving at the airport for a smooth trip.

On the other side of the Missouri River, St. Charles City sent aid to Kansas City for security during the tournament: two officers and two horses.

“The St. Charles City Police Department will be sending our two mounted officers to Kansas City to assist with the FIFA World Cup. Kansas City is a host city for these games,” Lieutenant Daniel Gibbons with the St. Charles Police Department told First Alert 4.”These will be very large games, international event. It’s going to require a lot of additional police officers and security to assist with those crowds.”

Lieutenant Gibbons said the aid for the matches is funded by the Kansas City Police Department and a federal grant, with no local cost to St. Charles City.

“We have sent our officers to large events, we’ve sent our mounted unit to Jefferson City for parades, they’ve even gone to Washington, D.C., so they have traveled outside of St. Charles before,” Lieutenant Gibbons said.

He added that St. Charles is one of the few municipalities in the state that has mounted units.

Officer Lisa Schweppe is one of the two officers attending the tournament. She and her four-legged partner, Samsung, will be assisting Kansas City for three weeks.

Samsung has been with the St. Charles Police for 5 years. Jonathan, the other horse, who will be assisting, has been with the force for three years.

“I’m excited, I think it’s going to be a cool experience. I’m happy to help KCPD with anything that they need. I know our horses will do well, I know the other horses will do well,” Schweppe said. " The benefits of a mounted unit is the high visibility we can see over large crowds, get through large crowds faster than officers on the ground and help the officers move a crowd if we need to. One mounted officer is equivalent to 10 officers on the ground, so if you just have four mounted officers, it’s almost like having 40 guys on the ground."

The areas St. Charles officers will be aiding will be around Arrowhead Stadium when there are matches and in downtown Kansas City for large events.

“St. Charles is very excited that we have the equipment and the personnel and the capability to assist our law enforcement partners across the state,” Lieutenant Gibbons said.

Where to watch the matches

In St. Charles and St. Louis City, the soccer fever can be felt, and two businesses are prepared for fans.

CITY SC is hosting watch parties for US soccer fanatics to follow the country’s World Cup journey.

The next watch party will be held at the ULTRA Club on June 25, when USA goes against Türkiye.

The event will also have opportunities to win door prizes, including FIFA merchandise.

More details of the watch party can be found here.

Tango Argentina, located in St. Charles City, was started by Stella Aberastury and her husband, Hector Aberastury.

The couple began selling empanadas at local events in 2000 and eventually opened a brick-and-mortar store 10 years ago.

The restaurant, which serves Argentinian food, will host watch parties for all the games.

“We are planning to have every single soccer game, every game is going to be here, not only Argentinian games, all of them,” Stella Aberastury said.

Despite the restaurant closing on Sundays and Mondays, it will be open for the games as well.

Argentinian fans can even have Lionel Messi’s favorite dish, Milanesa Napolitana with fries, as well as a beverage they have called El Messi.

“El Messi” is red wine with white soda, which is the soccer player’s favorite drink.

“You can eat and drink just like Messi here as well,” said Debora Aberastury, Stella Aberastury’s daughter.

The restaurant will also offer happy hour and discounts during the games.

“During the games, so if you come watch the games, you get a bit of a discount on your drinks and plus empanadas are the best thing to eat while you’re watching a soccer game,” Debora Aberastury said. “It’s a finger food, so best thing to eat during a soccer game.”

Tango Argentina is no stranger to hosting World Cup watch parties, such as in 2022, when the final pitted Argentina against France.

“The finale, it ended up being standing room only, because all of our tables were taken by reservations and walk-ins. And we just had a lot of people standing, super happy to watch the game with others,” Debora Abersatury said. “It was very emotional time as well, seeing Argentina get that third star and we are really hoping, we feel in our hearts we’re going to get that fourth star this year.”

The mother-daughter duo is excited that Argentina will be playing in Kansas City, just a few hours from St. Charles.

“We are feeling very excited and proud, we’re just too close to them, and we hope they can come here, ” Stella Aberastury said. “You never know.”

The restaurant has been promoting the watch parties for the games, as well as a QR code outside the establishment with game times.

Tango Argentina will also be taking reservations for anyone interested in having a table.

In St. Louis City, Amsterdam Tavern, located on Morgan Ford, not far from Tower Grove Park, will also be open for all the games.

The bar has been a spot for soccer fanatics since 2008. Starting as a small bar with a couple of seats, it has expanded to an outdoor patio to accommodate its growing clientele.

“We thought there was a need for people to go out to watch soccer because at that time it was pretty hard to watch European soccer and there weren’t really anybody that was really catering to it you need to open at 6 a.m. on Saturday, 7 a.m. on Sunday so that people can watch the games live, and so we decided to do that in 2008 and here we are in 2026,” said Jeff Lyell, owner of Amsterdam Tavern.

While Lyell is not Dutch, he chose the name Amsterdam Tavern to give the place a European feel. He says that while St. Louis may not have been a host city, his bar is the place to be.

“It’s really awesome, we’d like the Soccer Capital of the United States, St. Louis, to have gotten a game, but we really don’t have the facilities for it. This is the facility, this is where everyone is going to be. Every day when we open, we’ll be crowded until the last match is over,” Lyell said. “It’s going to be amazing, we can’t wait.”

Since 2010, the bar has also closed down the street to bring a large television for a larger crowd to watch the matches.

This year, the bar closed the streets on June 12 for U.S.A.’s first match against Paraguay.

“We’ll always be open at least an hour before the first match and we’ll stay open until as late as we need to stay open,” Lyell said. “This is the atmosphere you’re going to want to be in if you’re watching the World Cup.”

The bar will close the street again on Sunday, July 19, for the World Cup final.

“We’ll be here, all day, every day, every match, volume on and you’re just going to be hanging out with people who are just like you, wanting to watch soccer all day long,” Lyell said. “This is the place to do it, this is what we do, it’s all we do.”