Nine people hit the ground as bullets tore through the dark. Sirens, screams, and a panicked crowd just four miles from England’s World Cup base. Players still thousands of miles away, but the fear is already waiting for them in Kansas City. Police say no suspects. No motive. No reas… Continues…

In the pre-dawn chaos on Troost Avenue, the sound of gunfire shattered what should have been a routine night in a city preparing to host the world. Officers arrived to find a crowd scattering, nine adults eventually turning up at local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The relief that no one had died did little to ease the chill: this was yards from where global fans will soon gather, and just a short drive from England’s planned training base and team hotel.

While Harry Kane and his teammates calmly wrapped up a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Tampa, events in Kansas City raised urgent questions behind the scenes. Security plans will now be pored over, routes redrawn, contingencies rehearsed. The World Cup is meant to be a festival of joy; instead, England will land in a host city already marked by gunfire and unease.