DALLAS — The Lone Star State will have two hosting cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, creating a lot of excitement for what’s in store for Dallas in Houston in the coming years.
For Gilbert Aguilar, it reaffirms there’s plenty of soccer fans in the North Texas region.
“Going to have an opportunity to show the rest of the world that we, too, are soccer aficionados,” Aguilar said.
The last time Dallas hosted World Cup matches was in 1994. Six games were held at the Cotton Bowl stadium at Fair Park.
It was that World Cup where Aguilar fell in love with sport. Aguilar says, when he went to the games with his family, he saw the “passion, the pageantry, the drums, all of that stuff, and I was mesmerized like, ‘wow, this is really something.’”
Nearly thirty years later, Aguilar has collected an array of U.S. soccer memorabilia. In that time, he’s attended countless U.S. men’s and women’s soccer matches, traveled the world and joined the American Outlaws, a supporters group for the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams.
“Here’s the actual tickets that were used by myself back when we went to the World Cup back in 1994,” Aguilar said, as he pointed out each ticket that was pinned to a board.
It’s that love and passion that compelled Aguilar to take his grandson, Caleb, to the AT&T Discovery District on June 16, to learn that Dallas would be hosting in 2026.
FC Dallas and Host City Bid officials say the matches could bring nearly $400 million in revenue to DFW. They also predict it will bring in thousands of jobs.
However, Professor Michael Davis, an expert of economics at Southern Methodist University, says those kinds of projections are historically inflated.
“They’re fun to have. We should be glad we’re getting them, but we shouldn’t expect that they’re going to make much difference economically one way or the other,” Davis said.
Davis says he’s read through countless research papers that show the fiscal impact of a World Cup tends to be minimal or temporary.
“You just don’t see any long-term impact in the data,” Davis noted.
Aguilar believes the 2026 World Cup will help soccer culture grow to new heights in Texas.
“If you have an opportunity to go see a World Cup match, do so. You’ll thank me later,” Aguilar said.
A piece of advice Aguilar plans to take for himself. While the USMNT’s success will be up in the air come 2026, Aguilar knows he and his family will be in the stands cheering them on.