It’s July 2006, and England are eliminated from the World Cup. That didn’t seem to really matter for fans because, as Rio Ferdinand put it, “Football almost became a secondary element”. Now, Baden-Baden and the Three Lions are infamous from 2006, when the wives and girlfriends of the English soccer team stars turned the spa town on its head. But few expected Thomas Tuchel’s side to be hit that hard by off-field issues two decades later. And yet, ahead of their World Cup opener against Croatia, the Three Lions have seen their training camp robbed.

Yes, robbed! According to reports from the BBC, the Three Lions arrived in Kansas City, their base for the group stages, and realised they were victims of a theft. The report claimed that the team’s training equipment, including boots and footballs were among the items taken. Thieves broke into the vehicles transporting the equipment to their Swope Soccer Village in Missouri.

“We are investigating a possible theft of equipment from a team vehicle that arrived in Kansas City with items missing this evening,” a spokesperson for the Kansas Police said, via the BBC. “The investigation is ongoing.”

The vehicles were travelling from Florida, where England were having their pre-tournament camp. Tuchel’s side got together at the end of the 2025/26 season and played two friendly games; against New Zealand and Costa Rica in Tampa and Orlando, respectively. Following that, they then travelled to Kansas ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup opener against Croatia.

While the game will take place in Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, England’s base will be in Kansas at the Swope Soccer Village. Tuchel will conduct his first full training session with the squad on Sunday and has yet to comment on the matter. The same goes for the English Football Association (FA), as The Guardian has reported that they declined to comment.

However, there is some good news. Various outlets have reported that the police have arrested two suspects connected to the matter.

“Two subjects of interest were taken into custody pending further investigation,” a spokesperson told The Guardian.

No one has commented further since, although fans worry that this will affect the positive vibes surrounding the team. They have been in good form, having won both pre-tournament friendlies, with the German head coach’s tactics prevailing. One fan even wrote, “This is very unfortunate news. I hope it doesn’t impact their World Cup performance. England now faces challenges beyond just the weather.”

That kicked off a slew of comments, with many largely concerned about safety issues surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Fans react to England having their equipment stolen ahead of the FIFA World Cup

“At this rate, I won’t be shocked if this World Cup doesn’t make it to the final whistle. We may be on the verge of witnessing history,” one fan commented.

That would be a hyperbole from a sarcastic fan. However, issues have plagued the 2026 FIFA World Cup well before it kicked off. Fans struggled to buy tickets, thanks partly to the website and partly to prices well above the norm. To put it in perspective, FIFA stated in 2025 that tickets would range from $60 (group stage) to $6,370 (final).

However, that was without dynamic pricing. As of June 2026, FIFA has tripled the price of the category 1 tickets for the World Cup final, with it costing just under $33,000. Add to that the security issues that England have faced, and things get interesting. That is also ironic, given that 16 years ago, US officials questioned South Africa’s crime rates before the 2010 World Cup.

It’s why many fans hope that the officials in charge manage to help assuage the players’ fear and figure things out quickly. One fan even wrote, “That’s wild… nothing like dealing with off-field chaos before a big tournament. Hope they sort the security situation fast.”

After all, this is England. The Three Lions still rank among the most popular teams around. It’s why fans questioned how security could be so lax around a team with some of the biggest names in football. However, in typical British fashion, some fans opted to see the funny side of things.

One commented, “So much for that ‘welcoming the world’ vibe. Hope the thieves at least pass the ball around.”

That being said, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Mexico endured a similar incident last year. Before El Tri’s friendly against Japan, the team had their training equipment stolen. It happened in California, and, according to ABC7, police said the thieves broke into the truck and stole the equipment.

One fan believes that the latest incident needs to be taken seriously and wrote, “This is not funny.” Despite that, however, England and Thomas Tuchel are still going ahead with their community training session on Saturday afternoon. That will be their first one in Kansas, in preparation for their game against Croatia on June 17 in Dallas.