England players have had football boots and other key equipment stolen just days ahead of their World Cup opener against Croatia. The Three Lions have been based in Florida since touching down in the US at the start of June but made the journey to Kansas City on Friday where their camp will be based for the duration of the competition.
Training disrupted by theft
Thomas Tuchel’s side were scheduled to hold their first training session at their new base on Saturday afternoon with their equipment scheduled to arrive beforehand. There are fears boots belonging to stars including Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane were among the items nicked from vehicles transferring the equipment to their Swope Soccer Village base.
Police officers were on site on Friday night with two arrests believed to have been made. It leaves England staff scrambling to find what equipment is available to them ahead of training today. Official tournament balls and other items of equipment are also believed to have gone missing.
The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department said: ‘We are investigating a possible theft of equipment from a team vehicle that arrived in Kansas City with items missing this evening. The investigation is ongoing.’ Metro have contacted the FA for comment.
Impact on World Cup preparations
England face Croatia in their Group L opener on Wednesday 17 June with the incident handing staff a major headache. Tuchel and his staff have been meticulously planning every detail behind the scenes to ensure the men’s team is best equipped to win their first trophy since 1966 but those plans may have now been disrupted.
England’s preparations since arriving in the US have otherwise gone smoothly. Warm-up games against New Zealand, Costa Rica and a local Miami side helped the squad acclimatise to the heat and humidity in Florida, likely to be the toughest conditions they will face at any stage of the competition. Three wins in those games, with no goals conceded, and no fresh injury problems served as a major boost for Tuchel and the squad ahead of their opener next week.
