When FIFA announced its match schedule for the 2026 World Cup Sunday, the bid committee in North Texas learned it would host a semi-final match, not the finals. FIFA chose New York/New Jersey for the final.
"We believe we represent, in the center of the country, what America's about and our way," Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said after the announcement.
AT&T Stadium will host a total of nine matches, including four elimination matches and the last match in group play.
"I think with those nine games, FIFA and the world will see why we got more games than anybody else," Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said.
Jones and Ross said North Texas will treat each match with the same intensity as the region would have treated the final. They say hosting nine matches over the course of a month will bring worldwide attention to North Texas for a longer period of time and bring visitors from more parts of the world.
Ross said those visitors could learn about Texas, and they will also spend money here, generating revenue for businesses and increasing sales tax receipts so cities can build their infrastructure and take care of residents.
"I'm excited," he said. "Yeah, you didn't bring me the Final, but we got a semi and nine games to help us do what we do."
"We knew there was going to be give-and-take," FC Dallas President Dan Hunt said Monday at Toyota Stadium in Frisco. "We knew we were competing against great markets, the New Yorks and LAs of the world. It's tough on one side, but on the other side, it's just such a massive win for this community."
FIFA does not cite reasons for choosing one market over another for matches. Hunt says New York's reputation may have helped it secure the final.
"It's the global financial capital of the world," he says. "There's no other reason I can come up with, maybe how Europeans think of the United States still."
Despite losing the Final, Hunt says attracting a semi-final and a total of nine matches shows how the area has become important "globally speaking." He says FIFA chose AT&T Stadium for a total of five elimination matches.
"More drama, more excitement than probably any venue in the entire World Cup," Hunt says. "This is a massive win for Dallas/Fort Worth."
Dallas Sports Commission Executive Director Monica Paul says the number of matches will give fans from more countries a chance to learn about North Texas.
"Yes, we wanted the Final, but nine matches wasn't even something that was truly on our radar," Paul says. "We were planning on six to eight."
Paul says the commission has already started working with the North Central Texas Council of Governments on transportation and security. She says they are also looking at venues across the Metroplex that could host festivals or events in the summer of 2026.
"I'm very proud at the end of the day," Paul says. "A lot of time has been put into this. I get to stand by partners such as FC Dallas, AT&T Stadium, all of our amazing cities. The number of people who have put time and effort into this, seven years this bid has been going on, it becomes personal. If it didn't hurt a little bit, it would mean we didn't do the best we possibly could. I can 100 percent say our entire regional partners, everybody put their heart and soul into this. At the end of the day, it's a big win."
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