Dallas-Fort Worth wins bid to host 2026 FIFA World Cup at AT&T Stadium in Arlington
READ MORE
2026 World Cup is coming to Arlington
The ten American venues picked include Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.
Expand All
Arlington’s AT&T Stadium will be one of 11 American venues to host FIFA 2026 World Cup matches.
The announcement Thursday by soccer’s world governing body, Federation International Football Association, set off celebrations at the AT&T Discovery District, where officials from several North Texas cities and representatives from Major League Soccer and the Dallas Cowboys gathered.
The quadrennial event has traditionally been hosted by one country until 2002, when it was jointly held in Japan and South Korea. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted jointly — for the first time — by three nations. Hosting duties will be split between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
It will also be the largest field of competitors since the tournament was first played in 1930. There will be 48 teams in this tournament, 16 more than the 32 sides that qualified for the tournament in Qatar later this year. It will also have twice as many venues (16) as the Qatar edition (8).
A total of 80 matches will be played, with 60 of the contests to be held in the United States.
DFW impact
The economic impact for the region could be in the billions, said Dan Hunt, president of Major League Soccer team FC Dallas.
The audience for a World Cup game is almost as much as the Super Bowl, so imagine having six Super Bowls in one month, said Jason Sands with the Fort Worth Sports Commission.
Unlike other high-profile events taking place in Dallas-Fort Worth recently, the World Cup is an opportunity to get global exposure, he said.
The region could see an estimated 100,000 international visitors per day during the tournament, according to Sands.
It’s not clear which tournament games will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, but Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones expressed confidence AT&T Stadium would host the championship game.
“When we built that stadium, we built it in mind to have great, great events and it wasn’t just American football,” Jones said.
The decision for the championship game will come in the fall.
The World Cup coming to the Metroplex was made possible through a collaboration of all the region’s cities, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said.
“We are truly stronger together,” she said, noting the World Cup will benefit the entire region.
Parker celebrated after the announcement, writing on Twitter, “Fort Worth, let’s show the world how to throw a party!”
Jerry Jones will push for championship match
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the focus is putting on a great show and getting the championship match.
“If you put the stakes out there, I like those kinds of challenges,” Jones said. “We want to do everything in our power to have the championship game. In doing so, we will do a great job with whatever games we have there.”
Since its inception in 2009, AT&T Stadium has hosted mega events with national and international interest, including the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, Wrestlemania, the NBA All-Star Game, a number of world championship boxing matches and star-studded concerts.
“The longer I’m in sports the more I realize how important soccer is to this world,” Jones said. “To be able to participate in such an event to have these games is awesome and inspiring. When we built the stadium it was to have great, great events. And it wasn’t just American football.”
Other cities
During the televised announcement, CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani, inside a New York studio, excitedly said: “This is a great day for our region, a great day for the three countries and a great day for football.”
The other cities selected to host matches for the 23rd playing of soccer’s premiere global tournament are Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, and New York.
Canadian cities picked were Vancouver and Toronto. Cities in Mexico to host matches are Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey.
“Well, it was very, very tough,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino, before announcing the final roster of host cities. “Of course. I mean, all cities have done a fantastic incredible job with a great passion but you have to take decisions.”
Under a sweltering sun, the giant smiles seen in downtown Dallas underscored the enormity of bringing the World Cup to North Texas. More than 3.5 billion people tuned in to the 2018 World Cup in Russia — a little over a billion watched France knock off Croatia in the final, according to fifa.com. By comparison, roughly 112 million people watched this year’s Super Bowl on television and on streaming devices, according to nfl.com.
It’s a big deal. Like an economic impact of nearly $400 million and as many as 3,000 new jobs created, according to a press release from the Dallas Sports Commission.
The World Cup has been here before
This is not the first time World Cup matches were played in the Dallas area. The Cotton Bowl was one of nine venues the last time the U.S. hosted the event in 1994. The first World Cup match in Dallas featured a contentious 2-2 draw between Spain and South Korea — with the ascendant Asians finding the back of the net twice in the final four minutes.
That summer more than 3.5 million fans swarmed U.S. stadiums to watch the world’s best sides duke it out, according to statista.com.
Playing surface modification in the mix
AT&T Stadium has a turf field, Hellas Matrix turf, to be exact. Organizers will now have to plan for modifications to bring the venue to World Cup standards.
FIFA World Cup matches are only played on natural-grass fields, a measure that has been in place ever since the first match 92 years ago. Along with the Arlington stadium, nearly half of the venues selected use some variation of turf.
The stadium has hosted a few soccer matches on natural grass in the past, along with some on soft turf and a mixture of both, according to a Dallas Cowboys spokesperson. A mixture of both grass and turf was used most recently in the Mexico vs. Nigeria match held at the stadium in May.
FIFA will, however, have the final say on the field of play.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 4:34 PM.
.JPG)
