Perfect Pitch: How Kansas City Became the Heart of American Soccer and Landed the World Cup

When the World Cup comes to the United States in the summer of 2026, it will be the first time the tournament has been played in America in 32 years. It will also be the first time the tournament is held in Kansas City, Missouri,

For Kansas City, it will be one of the biggest moments in the city's history. It will also be the culmination of a decades-long story: How Kansas City, an overlooked city in the Midwest, became the heart of American soccer.

In Perfect Pitch, Nate Bukaty and Rustin Dodd chronicle this surprising and delightful evolution, tracing the history of soccer in Kansas City and how that history laid the foundation for a group of local sports executives, city officials, politicians, and rabid fans to lead an improbable bid to host the World Cup.

A true underdog tale, Kansas City's emergence as a soccer capital is symbolic of the larger national story of how America grew from a soccer-skeptical nation to a country with its own unique and vibrant footballing culture. Featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes access to key figures who spurred this soccer renaissance, Perfect Pitch is a heartwarming romp for fans of the beautiful game.

Nate Bukaty is one of the premier voices for the sport of soccer in the United States. For the past three years, he has served as one of the leading play-by-play commentators for Major League Soccer on Apple TV. Since 2015, he has also called matches on both the domestic and international level for Fox Sports. He also works as a regular host of various soccer programming on CBS Sports Golazo Network, as well as Sirius XM Satellite Radio's soccer channel, SiriusXM FC. Prior to his move to the National stage, Bukaty spent over 20 years as one of the preeminent voices for sports in his hometown of Kansas City. For 17 years, he served as the co-host of Kansas City's top-rated sports talk show, The Border Patrol, on Sports Radio 810, WHB. He also spent over a decade and a half performing play-by-play and hosting duties on the Kansas Jayhawk Radio Network, as well as the Kansas City Royals Radio and Television Networks. In 2015, he shifted his focus to the sport that was closest to his heart, as he became the play-by-play voice of Sporting Kansas City, a job he proudly held until he moved to global network coverage of Major League Soccer in 2023. Bukaty's work as an ambassador for soccer has played an instrumental role in bringing the 2026 World Cup to his hometown of Kansas City.

Rustin Dodd is a senior writer at The Athletic, a New York Times company. He is also the co-author of Kingdom Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs, and How a Once Swingin' Cow Town Chased the Ultimate Comeback, which was published by Dutton in 2023. He has written about all sports for The Athletic, profiling a minor-league pitcher who became addicted to opioids, chronicling Steve Nash's first year with the Brooklyn Nets, and revealing how Babe Ruth once contracted the Spanish flu. He has covered multiple Super Bowls, the World Series, the Final Four, and major tournaments in golf and tennis. He previously worked at the Kansas City Star newspaper from 2010 to 2018. His work has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors and the National Magazine Awards.

Matt Besler won the 2013 MLS Cup and three U.S. Open Cups as a defender for Sporting Kansas City.