How Algeria won over a Kansas town – and became the World Cup’s unlikeliest love affair

You’ve probably seen it by now: The video of a sweet elderly man overcome with emotion, standing outside in the rain and thunderstorms of Lawrence, Kansas, as Algeria arrived at its base camp.

The video and several more have gone viral as the surprise love affair of the World Cup has emerged from what seems like the unlikeliest of places – at least to those on the outside.

Algeria and Lawrence, Kansas, are apparently a match made in heaven.

“Seeing five to six hundred people that first evening, fans that were waiting outside our hotel, it really gave me goosebumps,” said Algeria head coach Valdimir Petković ahead of Tuesday’s showdown with Argentina.

Lawrence is located a little over 40 miles from Kansas City, a roughly 40-minute drive from the Metropolitan area that is hosting the base camps of Argentina, the Netherlands, and England for the World Cup. All three are staying at boutique hotels around the city. Algeria? Well, they chose the humble Lawrence DoubleTree.

So where did this come from? According to Stan Herd, a local artist, you have to go back to April, when it was officially announced that Lawrence would host Algeria.

“I think everybody’s surprised at it,” Herd said. “We’re not.”

Local organizers wanted to make sure that the country felt welcome in their city, according to Herd. So much so, they’ve commissioned artwork, and signs appear on the lampposts with the phrase “1,2,3, Viva l’Algérie!” Even McDonald’s drive-thru windows have signs welcoming Algeria and soccer fans to Lawrence.

Herd says Lawrence is “a blue city in a red state”. The city of nearly 100,000 is home to 27,000 college students from the University of Kansas. Roughly 30% of that student population is minorities or international students.

“Make sure you mention Sajedah,” Herd said. “She’s the one who reached 70,000 Algerians [via social media]. She’s a University of Kansas student, and she made this happen.”

Sajedah wanted to find a way to bring her college town and her local Algerian Diaspora together. Thousands of Algerians live in the southern suburbs of the Kansas City metropolitan area, along with Sajedah, her sister, and her mother, Karima. They helped organize the support of the team’s arrival at the airport, through the creation of an Instagram account and Facebook page titled “L’Algerie fi Kansas City”.

Two days after Algeria’s arrival, the account helped organize a gathering at Kanza Market, an Algerian-owned business in Olathe, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, roughly 40 minutes from Lawrence. Hundreds showed up, mostly Algerians from the community.

Two days later, thousands showed up at Rock Chalk Park, the home of the University of Kansas women’s soccer team, where Algeria trains daily. A blend of locals, soccer diehards, Lawrence residents trying to find out about all the hype, and the local Algerian community, ready to see its team.

Of all the mandated community sessions held by teams based in the Kansas City area, Algeria’s was the most community focused. Algerian music played over the loudspeakers the entire session. And the “clinic” ended up being a massive kickaround on the infield of the neighboring track stadium, with hundreds of kids kicking the ball around with the likes of globally recognized names like Riyad Mahrez, Ibrahim Maza, Aissa Mandi, and Amine Gouiri.

The University of Kansas Band learned the Algerian National Anthem and played it perfectly as the team came out to train. Mahrez made sure to share his thanks via social media the next day.

“We saw that there were so many US citizens who had scarves for us,” said Petković. “They showed so much support, and they really wanted to celebrate this moment with our team.”

Two brothers, Aaron and Ethan Downey, met Karima and Sajedah at the team’s arrival in Lawrence. When they reunited at the community session in Lawrence, Karima had gifts for the boys: Algeria jerseys in their correct size.

One was a diehard Borussia Dortmund fan who got his new Algeria jersey signed by Ramy Bensebaini. After he got his shirt signed, he bounded back up the steps of Rock Chalk Park, where Karima sat. The two shared a deep embrace.

“We as Lawrence residents didn’t adopt the team,” said Aaron. “I think the Algerians adopted us. They brought all the vibes, the culture, the acceptance, to the residents of Lawrence. I think that’s what made us so close and made this what it is.”

Everything that has taken place in the city of Lawrence flies in the face of many narratives. Herd bemoaned rhetoric and the disdain for immigrants that has come from American political figures and the dark corners of social media.

“There’s a lot of unnecessary anger at people who don’t look like us, and pray like us, and walk like us, and cheer like us,” Herd said. “In Lawrence, we are wide open to embracing something new. That’s the difference.”

Days later, both Downey brothers joined Herd, and 600 others, gathering around Herd’s field art rendition of the Algerian flag. They sang songs and danced around the flag, Algerians and native Lawrence residents hand in hand.

In tears, Karima said the support was beyond anything they could have ever imagined.

As Algeria take on Argentina on Tuesday, it will be the minority of support in the stands. Argentinians and Messi fans have descended on Kansas City in the thousands in recent days. And on the field, Algeria will be the underdogs at Kansas City Stadium.

But the events of recent weeks will, without a doubt, mean that a few local attendees will end up pulling for Algeria, the adopted team of Lawrence, Kansas.

“I hope that we can behave in the right way in terms of the way that we conduct ourselves on and off the pitch, that we can certainly give a positive response to absolutely everyone,” said Petković. “But, I hope that we can make it through to the knockout stage and maybe everyone from Kansas can travel with us to another city.”