Two ‘Afghans’ are charged with stealing £13,000 worth of England’s World Cup kit – including a Lego set and two cuddly lions – as the team arrived to kick off their campaign

Two men were accused of stealing £13,000 worth of England’s World Cup kit, including a Lego set and two adorable lions, which went missing in a robbery as the team arrived to kick off the campaign.

It is stated that Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal, who are thought to be originally from Afghanistan, are accused of receiving stolen goods and can be sentenced to a maximum of 7 years in prison if they are found guilty.

Documents released by the Jackson County prosecutor’s office in Kansas City, Missouri, detail items taken, including football jerseys, boots, a Lego set of Nike Air shoes, a pair of goalkeeper gloves and a football.

Two toy lions were also listed as found, but it is unclear whether one of them was Leo the Lion, the Three Lions’ prized mascot.

Prosecution documents reveal the theft took place ‘in another jurisdiction’ and the two men were allegedly in possession of the stolen goods after they were discovered missing by UK backroom staff.

The Daily Mail exclusively revealed on Saturday how police were called and items were gone as kit vans were unloaded at England’s state-of-the-art $20 million training complex in Kansas City, Scope Soccer village, on Friday afternoon.

FA officials realized the cargo had been taken after some packages they had placed in the trailer disappeared while being transported 2,400 kilometers overland from Palm Beach, Florida, to Kansas City, Missouri.

They challenged Kamal and asked him to examine the cabin of the van, and he initially refused, but according to the ‘probable cause affidavit’ released by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, he was said to have handed over a pair of shoes when told police would not be called.

Two toy lions were also listed as having been found, but it is unclear whether one of them is Leo the Lion, the Three Lions’ prized mascot (pictured in the team dressing room at Euro 2016)

The men later returned other items they allegedly kept in the taxi. A detailed inventory of the stolen items in the amended probable cause affidavit showed that four pairs of football boots worth £250 each, five pairs of shoes worth £170 each and a red England ball worth £3,730 were taken.

Other items stolen included two white England jerseys worth £3,730 each, a football worth £160 and a pair of goalkeeper gloves worth £120.

In addition to 4 pairs of navy blue shorts, 4 navy blue shirts of unknown value, 4 light blue long-sleeved shirts and 4 light blue short-sleeved shirts were also mentioned in the list.

A £30 multi-function extension cord was also seized, along with a £112 JBL speaker and a £75 Lego set, and after returning the items the men drove off, but Kansas City police were called and an investigation was launched.

Redacted court documents revealed that the men, who worked for a company called Vista Trans, claimed they were “given permission” to retrieve the items and came to a town called Columbia, 150 miles from Kansas City, to help them.

The men, who were arrested at their homes in San Antonio, Texas, 800 miles from Kansas City, are currently in jail on $75,000 bail, with a trial date to be set.

Speaking about the theft on Saturday afternoon, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was asked if he had lost any of the jerseys and he told the Daily Mail: ‘I think I have. I think I did but I got them back so it’s all good, we got everything back so it’s all good.’

Henderson smiled and added: ‘Leo the lion has been rescued, he goes everywhere with us.’

Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson said: ‘Jackson County will not tolerate any criminal activity targeting World Cup visitors, including international teams traveling here to compete.

‘We thank the Kansas City Police Department and our on-call attorneys for their swift work in investigating this incident and promptly filing charges. Our office is committed to holding these individuals accountable.’

While Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas shared on

England’s Bukaya Saka runs with the ball in training on Saturday

‘Kansas City’s public safety leadership will continue to ensure everyone is safe and offenders will be quickly held accountable for any misconduct.’

FA officials were keen to downplay the incident, insisting it would have ‘no impact’ on their schedule and instead focus on Wednesday’s opening group match against Croatia in Dallas.

Meanwhile, the England team were forced to hole up at the £250-a-night Inn on Meadowbrook hotel after a severe storm and tornado ripped through Kansas City late on Saturday night.

A tornado was also reported, trees and power lines were downed and many TV channels abandoned coverage of Scotland’s match against Haiti to focus on the severe weather as 80 mph winds ripped through the city’s suburbs.

Locals have been advised to ‘hide in the cupboard or hide in the bathroom’ if they are in the path of the cyclone, while an FA source said players have been given advice on what to do in case of bad weather forecast.

Powerful storms ripped through the city just hours after England’s first World Cup training ended.

The team was among millions of people in the state of Missouri who received alerts on their mobile phones saying ‘Severe storm warning in effect’.

He added ominously: ‘Destructive winds of 80 miles per hour. Take shelter in a solid building away from windows. ‘Flying debris can be fatal to those caught without shelter.’

The team’s £250-a-night hotel – the Inn at Meadowbrook in the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village – is thought to have storm shelters, but the team is not thought to have used them.

As John McGinn scored Scotland’s first goal against Haiti, power went out in many parts of the city.

Forecasters had predicted Friday’s thunderstorm would be three out of five and severe, with strong winds, tennis ball-sized hail and showers.

The Kansas City Royals scoreboard instructs fans to seek shelter as the game is postponed due to a tornado warning during a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Saturday, June 13 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sirens rang out in Kansas City and an eerie atmosphere was created throughout the night as people hid in bars and restaurants and were not allowed out.

Forked lightning flashed across the sky for more than an hour, accompanied by deep rumbling thunder, before the biblical storm ended just before 9.15pm and alarms stopped.

As a precaution, the Fan Zone near the Union Street station, which was packed with more than 25,000 people for the United States’ opening game against Paraguay, was closed at 5 p.m.

Officials said 66,000 people were without power at the height of the storm, and a tornado was confirmed to have formed in Clay County, north of Kansas City.

In the absence of a power outage, coverage of the Scotland match was interrupted to provide live updates of the storm, with weather experts warning people to ‘hide in cupboards or bathrooms’ to avoid injury.

It was reported that dozens of trees and power lines were downed.

The Daily Mail has approached Vista Trans for comment.