England’s stolen football equipment worth Rs 17 crore recovered 24 hours after theft

Stolen equipment of the England football team worth nearly Rs 17 crore has been recovered within 24 hours after it went missing during the team’s move to its FIFA World Cup base in Kansas City.

Authorities in Jackson County, Missouri, charged two Texas men Saturday with one felony count of receiving stolen property after police found missing items.

The accused, identified as Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal of San Antonio, face a Class D felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Bond for both was set at $75,000.

The theft occurred as England were moving from their pre-training base in Florida to their World Cup camp in Kansas City ahead of the tournament.

According to court documents obtained by The Associated Press, police seized several items belonging to the team, including nine pairs of football boots, goalkeeper gloves, a World Cup match ball, several training kits, electronics, stuffed toys, signed England jerseys and even a set of Lego Nike Air boots.

THE MISSING EQUIPMENT WAS NOT ESSENTIAL: AUTHORITIES

Despite the theft, officials said none of the missing equipment had affected England’s World Cup preparations.

Jackson County State’s Attorney Melesa Johnson said authorities acted quickly after learning the international team was the target.

“Jackson County will not tolerate criminal activity that targets visitors to the World Cup, including the international teams that come here to compete,” Johnson said.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas also praised investigators for tracking the stolen goods across state lines and ensuring the charges were prosecuted.

England arrived in Kansas City on Saturday and was greeted at his team’s base before heading into open practice.

The Three Lions chose Kansas City as their tournament venue despite not playing any of their group stage games there, citing easier travel accessibility across the sites. England open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday before later group matches against Ghana and Panama.

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Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

June 14, 2026 11:41 AM IST