DALLAS – The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be a dream come true for athletes around the world. It’s also serving as inspiration for young soccer players here in North Texas.

Forms Academy

When you think of what a school sounds like you might imagine lockers being slammed or a school bell ringing. At Forms Academy, however, those sounds are replaced by whistles, the dribbling of a soccer ball, and the dreams of making it as a professional soccer player.

Reif Chron is a consultant at Forms. He explained the school is a soccer-centric development academy for players who want to spend most of their day outside a traditional school setting. They still receive their education, but also develop soccer skills and technique.

Students spend four hours in the classroom and four hours on the pitch gaining the skills they need to make it pro. 

Forms students excited for World Cup

What they’re saying:

Student Ryanne Taylor told FOX 4 the workload isn’t too challenging, saying the format is fun for the students.  

That said, balancing their dreams for greatness and homework can be even more challenging in a state that bleeds football. 

“I was trying for different sports, but I never liked football because of the tackling and I was too young,” student Matthew Trejo said.

“I chose soccer because its more intense and its faster paced,” said student Noah Rivero.

But the United States being one of the host countries for the World Cup is changing things.

“It’s cool when kids can bring something that can be up close and personal that, in the past, had seemed so far,” Chron said.

“They can go to games and they can look down and say, ‘My dream of playing as a professional, that’s tangible now. I can touch it,’” Chron said.

The students told FOX 4 the World Cup is an inspiration for them, hoping one day they can make it to the international tournament. 

“I feel like it’s a really good experience because maybe I can go to some of the games and watch professional talents and try to learn from them,” 

But for now, these kids are happy to wait and learn from the greats until it’s their turn.

World Cup comes to DFW

What’s next:

The draw for next summer’s World Cup is coming up Friday. We’ll find out the situation for matches at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

FOX carries this event live at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

“The Kick”, our FOX 4 World Cup show, airs leading up to it starting at 10 a.m. Friday.

The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 4 coverage at Forms Academy.

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