KANSAS CITY, MO — Mohammad Abualnadi had a decision to make. 

It wasn’t easy. 

The 25-year old bet on himself, reaping the benefits of an historic summer.

Abualnadi is playing in the 2026 World Cup representing Jordan. The Kansas City-born player is making history for his team and family.

From pharmacy school to the World Cup 

After a strong collegiate soccer career at Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, Abualnadi wasn’t sure if professional soccer was his path. 

Starting out in the lower divisions can be a grind, and Abualnadi knows it. 

Instead, he decided to enroll in pharmacy school at the University of Florida in Aug. 2024. 

“It wasn’t an ultimatum with my parents, but it was a reality check with how my football was,” he said. “I’m realistic with my goals and realistic with where I am in life.”

World Cup: Why Kansas City is ‘the heart of soccer’

Hard work and achieving objectives is ingrained in the Abualnadi household. Reaching pharmacy school was the next chapter that Abualnadi’s parents were expecting. 

Abualnadi had stints with Jordanian club Al-Hussein and Iraq’s Al-Qasim prior to pharmacy school. His time with both clubs didn’t pan out the way that he wanted. 

That’s why he wanted to continue his studies. Maybe his dream of playing professional football had ended, he thought.

Instead, Abualnadi decided to bet on himself.

One week into school, Abualnadi dropped out, opting to continue his dream of professional soccer. 

It was a shock to the family, according to Abualnadi’s sister Noor, but Abualnadi’s soccer goals were far from over.

“I think he realized that you can try to mold yourself in so many different ways,” Noor said. “But, you just really can’t deny what your passion is.”

Abualnadi made the jump to Malaysia, playing for Selangor FC. It’s there where his career began to blossom. 

Less than three weeks after joining Selangor, the Jordan national team called up Abualnadi. It was another big break for the defender. 

He made his debut in a non-sanctioned FIFA friendly against North Korea. Abualnadi made his first official appearance against South Korea — where he played for 13 minutes — in World Cup qualification in October 2024. 

Since that match, Abualnadi has been a mainstay in the Jordanian national team. 

He started in Jordan’s 3-0 win over Oman in June 2025. The win sealed a place in the World Cup for the first time in the country’s history. 

From Kansas to Algeria: Check out this massive World Cup flag art

How a Kansas City-born player can represent Jordan

Abualnadi is Kansas City through and through. He was a ball boy for MLS club Sporting Kansas City as a youngster. 

Abualnadi’s father is Palestinian and was born in a refugee camp, while his mother was born in Jordan. 

The pair arrived in America in the mid-1980’s. The patriarch was studying to become a physician, spending time at the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University before settling in Kansas City. 

According to FIFA, for a player to represent their non-birth nation, they need to have a parent or grandparent born in that country. This is how Abualnadi can represent the Jordan national team. 

Abualnadi and his family would travel to Jordan every other summer to visit family. He wanted to keep up with his soccer when making the trip overseas. His mother found a person on Facebook to help train her son. 

That person ended up being a coach on the Jordan youth national team. From that point on, Abualnadi was on the map with the federation. 

“When he would go overseas, he would get to train with them and I think they continue to get to know him,” Noor said. “I think it’s really interesting as an American, to be able to have more than one national identity and be able to traverse both opportunities.”

Abualnadi shines as a ‘student of the game’

In America, Abualnadi played for Sporting Kansas City’s youth teams. He rose through the ranks and was an impressive player for the team. 

HUTCHINSON — Throughout their formative years, they grew up playing side-by-side, on rival teams or simply admired each other’s success from afar.

Now that their high school football careers are over, Salina Central’s Cooper Reves and Jesus Delgado, Salina South’s Jaxon Myers and Brody Chambers from Southeast of Saline, share the honor of playing for the West team in this weekend’s Kansas Shrine Bowl.

Perhaps just as important in their minds, they get to represent Salina for either the first or the last time wearing identical uniforms.

Jesus Delgado

“Us Salina guys are kind of sticking together, I like to say,” Delgado, an all-state linebacker on Central’s 2025 Class 5A state championship team, said Tuesday during the West training camp Tuesday at Hutchinson Community.

On Thursday, the East and West teams convened in Emporia, site of the 53rd annual Shrine Bowl, set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Emporia State’s Welch Stadium. But not before four days of intense practice at their respective camps in Hutch and Ottawa.

For the Salina contingent, the free time between workouts and meetings was an opportunity to connect, reconnect and reminisce.

Jaxon Myers

“We’re all from near each other, so we kind of know each other, or we’ve heard of each other,” said Myers, a standout wide receiver at South. “We’ve got some pretty good dudes in Salina.

“It’s not just us, but there’s a lot more that could have been here.”

While Reves, an all-state running back, and Delgado helped lead Central to a 12-1 record and its first state title since 2005, Myers was part of a struggling South team that suddenly caught fire in the playoffs after a 1-7 regular season. Road victories in the first two rounds led to the Cougars’ first postseason showdown with their crosstown rivals since 2004.

“That was one of the craziest football games I’ve been a part of in my entire life, just from the fan bases to everything building up to it,” Delgado said of Central’s 49-24 victory after trailing 17-14 at halftime. “But as of right now, it’s really just trying to soak everything in, going to college, and we’re all going on to different opportunities.”

“Some people are playing ball, some people are doing other things, but we’re really all just trying to get to know each other, build some connections and embrace it.”

While Myers’ memories of the playoff game aren’t as fond as those of his rivals, he said it spoke to the mutual respect the teams shared amid all the hoopla.

“It was fun, but not fun at the same time,” said Myers, who did catch a touchdown pass in the game. “You want to win those types of games and you want to keep the Cinderella story going, but they’re a tough team and they won state, so it’s not much you can do about that.”

“You’ve got to eat it from time to time, but this is a part of the game, and it’s all respect. We all respect each other.”

Myers, a Class 5A all-state selection by KSHSAA Covered, caught 45 passes for 871 yards and 10 touchdowns in just nine games for South as a senior. He will play at Garden City Community College this fall.

“Jaxon’s been killing it,” Reves said of Myers’ early West camp practices.

Cooper Reves

Reves, a KSHSAA Covered Top 11 selection and first team 5A pick, knows a little about killing it. As a senior, he rushed for 2,814 yards and 32 touchdowns, including 243 with four scores in the Mustangs’ 51-34 state championship victory over Basehor-Linwood.

Reves also caught 28 passes for 256 yards and another touchdown to finish with 3,070 total yards for the season.

Reves is not the only KSHSAA Covered Top 11 pick representing Salina. Chambers, a 6-foot-1, 285-pound lineman, helped Southeast of Saline to a Class 2A runner-up finish, one game shy of a second straight state championship. While also starting on the offensive line, he had 85 tackles, including 17 for loss, for the 12-1 Trojans.

And then there’s Delgado, the heart of Central’s defense, a first team 5A all-state selection, who had 145 tackles, 21.5 for loss, a sack and an interception in the Mustangs’ championship run.

Among the Salina players, there are several unique connections.

Cooper Reves and Jesus Delgado: One last game together

Delgado, who has signed with Butler Community College in El Dorado, will play his final game alongside Reves, who is headed to Northern Iowa on a wrestling scholarship after winning two state titles at Central.

“Having that state championship, there’s not really much like it,” Reves said. “I feel like me and Jesus were leaders, and we kind of felt like we’d take that role on this year.”

“Just having someone like that next to you the whole way and being able to bring each other up and be there for each other has been great.”

Good memories, indeed, Delgado agreed.

“Early on, when we got (to camp), we were kind of chatting about what it’s going to be like in a different environment,” he said. “We’ve been looking back on old memories, videos and things like that with the guys.

Jesus Delgado and Jaxon Myers: Teammates for just one game

For Delgado and Myers, their history as rivals also represents the future. After teaming up in the Shrine Bowl, they are headed back to rival camps in the Jayhawk Conference.

“He’s like, ‘Some things just never change.’ But right now, for one week, we’ll just let it slide,” Delgado said with a smile. “What some of the guys are doing is putting some of the other team’s decals on their helmets. It might be the only time I agree to put some of the other guys’ decals on.”

Myers, for his part, isn’t too worried about future rivalries.

“It’s fun not having to go against them just because of how good they are and seeing how hard they work,” he said. “It’s a lot different, but it’s fun watching them play.”

Appreciating success at different levels

While South and Central were doing their thing, including the historic playoff clash, they were not too busy to appreciate what Chambers, all-state running back Grady Gebhardt and Southeast of Saline were accomplishing just 15 miles away near Gypsum.

“They’ve been successful, and I think Brody’s been a big part of that,” Reves said. “He’s a good dude and amazing athlete.”

Chambers has something else in common with Reves as a two-time state wrestling champion, and he played both football and baseball with Delgado growing up.

Like his South and Central counterparts, Chambers kept an eye on their postseason successes.

Brody Chambers

“It was definitely fun to watch Central’s run to the state championship and winning it,” said Chambers, who will continue his football career at Grand View University, a high-level NAIA school. “We kind of came up short, unfortunately, but it was really cool that we had two Salina teams I the state championship.”

“We didn’t watch any of the games because we were still focused on us, but I did see a whole bunch of Facebook stuff about (the South-Central playoff game), and we were excited for them. We root for each other since we’re not in the same division.”

Proud to represent Salina in Shrine Bowl

When the final whistle blows at the Shrine Bowl on Saturday, Delgado, Reves, Myers and Chambers all will go their separate ways.

But not before proudly representing their hometown.

“It’s awesome to say that we have four guys from Salina be on this team when there’s only 40 guys from around the state,” Reves said. “So, that’s 10% of the team just from Salina.

“It says we have the right people doing the right things, and I think that’s pretty special.”

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Colorado-based chicken restaurant Birdcall is expanding into Kansas.

The company announced Friday its plans to expand into Kansas and five other Midwestern states over the next five years. Birdcall plans to add six to eight fast-casual restaurants in Wichita and Topeka.

“The Midwest represents a tremendous opportunity for Birdcall,” CEO Mark Lohmann said. “From our award-winning chicken sandwiches and other handcrafted menu offerings to our commitment to innovation and community, we believe Birdcall offers an experience that resonates with today’s guests and is a natural fit for the region.”

Other locations announced are:

• Indiana – 10 to 15 restaurants across Indianapolis, Bloomington, Evansville and Fort Wayne
• Missouri – Up to 18 restaurants across St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City
• Nebraska – Seven to 10 restaurants across Omaha and Lincoln
• Ohio – Up to 20 restaurants across Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo
• Wisconsin – 10 to 15 restaurants across Milwaukee, Madison and Appleton

Birdcall’s menu features a variety of chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers and nuggets, salads, tater tots, fries, and more. The restaurant also makes its own in-house sauces and serves up draft beer and house-made margaritas, with happy hour specials.

The company said each restaurant will use self-service kiosks and occupy about 2,300 square feet, with indoor and outdoor seating that can serve up to 150 people.

Birdcall currently operates 17 restaurants across Colorado, Arizona and Texas.