Stolen items valued at $18,000

The England national football team arrives at Kansas City airport on Saturday. [AP]
The England national football team arrives at Kansas City airport on Saturday. [AP]

Two men have been arrested for stealing training equipment belonging to the England national football team at the 2026 North America World Cup.

Jackson County prosecutors in Missouri charged Mustafa Saliq and Erfan Kamal, both from San Antonio, with receiving stolen property, the Associated Press reported. The charge is a felony carrying a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Bail was set at $75,000 (about 114 million won).

The England squad had loaded training equipment and players' luggage onto vehicles to move from a pre-tournament camp in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to their base camp in Kansas City. The team reported the theft after discovering items were missing when the bags were unloaded.

Documents obtained by the AP showed that items recovered from the suspects included nine pairs of football boots, goalkeeper gloves, an official World Cup match ball, training tops and bottoms, electronic devices, a stuffed toy, signed jerseys belonging to England players, and a Nike Air sneaker Lego set. The stolen goods were estimated to be worth $18,000 (about 27 million won).


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