DALLAS — The FIFA World Cup is coming back to North Texas.
After the Cotton Bowl in Dallas hosted six matches in 1994, Dallas-Fort Worth will host matches at AT&T Stadium in Arlington in 2026, FIFA announced Thursday — joining Houston as one of two Texas cities getting the honor to help host soccer's biggest quadrennial event.
"It is a tremendous opportunity to literally have the world get an appreciation for what we know, and that's what a great place Dallas is for sport and for soccer," Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said at a news conference Thursday.
A number of stakeholders in the Dallas area started laying the groundwork for the successful bid years ago. The Dallas Sports Commission, FC Dallas, the Dallas Cowboys and government agencies came together to partner with the Mexican federation and woo the Mexico men's national team to commit to an annual friendly match at AT&T Stadium.
That helped put the region on the map as a site in which a top international team considered its second home, even with Mexico set to host matches in its own country in 2026 with matches in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara.
The group also put forward the region's abundant number of training facilities, including the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park and Frisco's Toyota Stadium, while other sites including MoneyGram Soccer Park hope to welcome teams for sessions. There are also a number of sites that could host fan fests, including Sundance Square in Fort Worth, Klyde Warren Park in Uptown Dallas and Texas Live in Arlington.
Live reaction from myself and @tylerakern, yelling over the Discovery District din about #WorldCup2026 coming to DFW & the long wait that will come to find out where knockout matches will be played. pic.twitter.com/8SXyoECFoW
— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) June 16, 2022
While FIFA announced the 11 U.S. sites, the three Mexico sites and the two Canadian sites Thursday, it likely will be until next year
"We we look to host at least six matches. That's something that I feel fairly confident in. What the question is, is what level of matches, and as I said, our stated goal here is to have the final. That's why we competed to do this," said Dan Hunt, the FC Dallas president who led Dallas-Fort Worth's bid. "I think our city and I think the stadium and this bid group with the Cowboys and FC Dallas and the City of Dallas, the City of Arlington will put forth an amazing package for that. There is a chance, that's been talked about that you could wind up with more than six matches."
Dan Hunt says a Dallas delegation will head to New York on Sunday to meet with FIFA, which will announce knockout match sites after 2022 World Cup.
— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) June 16, 2022
“Our stated goal is to have the final,” Hunt said. pic.twitter.com/w0c4zGqd60
In 1994, Dallas hosted four group matches, a Round of 16 game and a quarterfinal. Those events still help form the fabric of the region's soccer culture, with many working in the game in North Texas getting one of their first jobs in soccer during that World Cup. There were no Texas host sites, by contrast, for the 1999 Women's World Cup.
The 2026 tournament is set to take place from mid-June until mid-July, with the competition expanding to 48 teams for the first time from its current 32. In addition to in the U.S. and Mexico, the 2026 tournament will also feature matches in Canada with Toronto and Vancouver set to host.
The other host cities include Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, and Guadalajara, announced as part of a block of five Western cities prior to the Dallas announcements. Kansas City, Atlanta, Monterrey and Mexico City joined Dallas and Houston in the Central region. Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey rounded out the group of host cities, chosen from the East bracket. Cincinnati, Denver, Edmonton, Nashville, Orlando, and Washington D.C./Baltimore failed to make the final cut.