Japan vs. Netherlands soccer equals the best of Texas vs. Texas A&M football
This hurts to admit ... the first match of FIFA’s 2026 World Cup played at Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was the best of not just of soccer but sport. Any sport.
What a party. What a game.
This is why FIFA can, and does, charge whatever it wants for its World Cup.
The game was brilliant, and the scene was superior, on par with America’s biggest college football games.
Any and all criticism at FIFA is both warranted, and always welcome .... however. And. But.
In American lingo, the Japan vs. Netherlands World Cup match was a football game between Texas and Oklahoma, or Alabama vs. LSU, minus the copious amount of commercial interruptions that are a staple of our sporting events.
Starting at 10 a.m., the pregame scene/party/tailgate created by the Netherlands next to the Ballpark in Arlington was the world’s best, most polite, and endearing pep rally. Unlike the tailgates that are common before our big college, or NFL, games, there was a distinct lack of drunk-muscled fools.
The viral video clips of the thousands of orange-covered Dutch singing, dancing and partying hours before the start of their match don’t do justice what it was like to hop among them. Even the Japanese fans wearing their blue T-shirts who walked among them were more than welcome to party.
The scene was complete with orange flags, orange sunglasses, hand-thrown styrofoam airplanes and two inflatable penises.
Combine that, plus the 1-mile scenic-route, oranje march of the Dutch fans behind its famous Orange Bus from the old home of the Texas Rangers to two blocks shy of Arlington Stadium, and the Dutch won just about any day of any week of any year.
What the Dutch did before the game, the Japanese equalled during it.
Supporters of the Samurai Blue showed out on Sunday. Think of them as well-mannered Oklahoma Sooner fans.
The drums, and the constant singing of “Vamos Nippon,” will take years of therapy to erase from the memories of those inside Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Japanese fans sing this with greater frequency than Oklahoma fans do their “Boomer Sooner,” or the University of Michigan does with its “Hail to the Victors.”
For the duration of the entire match, the Japanese kept it up. Wouldn’t stop. It wasn’t possible how much they kept at it; it had to be piped in from Tokyo.
They maintained their pace, and noise, when their team fell behind 1-0 in the second half. They lost their minds when Japan tied it.
They didn’t stop when the Netherlands took a 2-1 lead at the 64-minute mark. They were in shock when Japan tied it with one minute remaining in regulation.
A tie in America is only acceptable if it’s a windsor, bow or ascot.
A tie here is a win for Japan. The Netherlands was the overwhelming favorite, and the better team for the majority of the game, but sports happened.
It was a beautiful game, and a perfect day.
