Thomas Tuchel and his England squad were greeted by fans at their Kansas City hotel on Saturday — but the team's mascot, Leo the Lion, had to be held aloft by players after the kit van was broken into earlier that day.
Most of the stolen training equipment has now been recovered, sources confirmed, after vehicles transferring gear to the Swope Soccer Village base were broken into before the squad's arrival. Among the items taken were Harry Kane's boots — though FA sources insisted those were training boots, not the personalised match boots the captain will wear at the tournament. Jude Bellingham's boots, along with training tops and Tuchel's tactical smartboards, were also stolen.
“Most of England's stolen World Cup training equipment recovered after Harry Kane's boots were taken; two arrests made.”
Phil Jagielka, the former England defender, told BBC Sport: "We have plenty of pairs of boots throughout the season, but for the tournament a lot of them will have them personalised. A lot of them may have their own special insoles. Then you could choose whether to have the flag, your initials, your kids' [names], nicknames. All this would have been done months in advance."
Kane had been wearing a pair of red, white and blue Nike boots at an England training session in Florida just four days ago, and the same pair during the 3-0 victory over Costa Rica on Wednesday. He is due to wear a new Skechers boot at the World Cup, while Bellingham's Adidas Predators feature his signature and a silhouette of himself on the heel. The value of such tailored items would run into thousands of pounds, but the FA insisted the players' personal boots had not been taken.
Police in Kansas City confirmed two arrests have been made in connection with the incident. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas appeared to distance the city from the security lapse, saying: "As I understand it, investigations will involve both federal authorities, obviously, local law enforcement will be involved as well. My understanding is that this may be something where the issues are far beyond Kansas City."
Insiders joked that Leo the Lion, the team mascot, could be a "key witness" after thieves left behind one football, Leo and a table tennis table because they could not carry them. The squad will undertake their first full training session on Sunday ahead of their World Cup opener against Croatia on Wednesday.
The theft occurred as Tuchel's side began their preparations for the tournament. A spokesman for Kansas Police had said earlier: "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."