Soccer jerseys and other paraphernalia are displayed May 14 at Soccer Post Arlington. The store’s prices will not increase during the Arlington 2026 World Cup matches.
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, local businesses from soccer merchandise shops to bars and restaurants are preparing for the influx of people coming to Arlington.
The AT&T Stadium will host nine games from Sunday to July 14, showcasing talent from countries such as Argentina, Croatia, the Netherlands, Japan and more throughout the month-long event.
FIFA announced the 16 host cities, including Arlington, in mid-2021, giving brands, merchandise shops, local businesses and fans plenty of time to prepare.
Soccer Post Arlington (formerly The Soccer Corner)
Charlie Butler, Soccer Post Arlington store manager, said the store started preparing and investing well over a year in advance, which was somewhat challenging.
“You’re ordering product before you even knew all the teams that were gonna qualify,” Butler said.
Some vendors, including Nike, Adidas and Puma, started installing fixtures and providing merchandise for the shop as early as 2024 to recognize the store and its proximity to the stadium, he said.
From a business standpoint, Butler said he hopes the store gains more visibility and provides customers with an authentic experience while potentially educating people getting into the sport.
“This is a Super Bowl for us, but we’re always about this,” Butler said.
The store will not be changing its prices while the games are happening, he said.
A neon sign hangs above an open door May 14 at J. Gilligan’s Bar & Grill in Arlington. The restaurant offers shuttles to the AT&T Stadium.
J. Gilligan’s Bar & Grill
Randy Ford, owner and president of J. Gilligan’s Bar & Grill, said they started preparing over a year ago and will treat the soccer matches like Dallas Cowboys games.
“There’s supposed to be a lot of people, and so from our end, we’ve had experience dealing with a lot of people,” Ford said. “Based on that experience, we’re going to try to build off that model.”
The bar and grill normally has around 42 employees, which goes up to around 75 during big event days, such as Cowboys’ games, he said. The staff increase includes constables who help assist traffic flow, with about seven during each match day.
J.Gilligan’s also offers shuttles, with 15 to 20 drivers in total on match days, that take attendees to the stadium. While food prices will remain the same, the shuttle prices will increase to $26 per adult with a $1 cash discount, and $15 for children 3 to 12 years old with a $1 cash discount.
“The rule of thumb is three hours before the event. But at the end of the day, if they want to go four hours, we’re going to be here. We’re going to have the equipment here, and we go nonstop,” he said.
On the restaurant side, the menu will change to about a five-item menu served buffet style, where people can buy a ticket and exchange it for food of their choice.
“A lot of this business is just service, quality and taking care of the customer,” Ford said. “They’re coming here to have a good time, and all we want to do is facilitate, make it easier to get there, easy to get something to eat, easy to get something to drink. That’s our job.”
The hours of the bar and grill will fluctuate depending on the games, making sure to be open a couple of hours before each Arlington match takes place.
Cheba Hut “Toasted” Subs sits on East Abrams Street on May 18 in Arlington. Eddie White, owner of Cheba Hut and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, said they started preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup once the schedule was released.
Cheba Hut and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop
Across the street, Eddie White, owner of Cheba Hut and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, said they started preparing once the schedule came out.
The shops won’t have any food changes, but there will be drink changes, with the addition of a soccer boot with a shin guard filled with beer, White said. The beer lineup will be adjusted depending on the countries playing to accommodate different drinking cultures, he said.
The restaurants will also offer some type of soccer and Texas-themed souvenirs for people to take with them.
Hours of both restaurants will fluctuate depending on game times to give people enough time to eat and get to the games on time. Additionally, the shops will bring together staff from their other locations to help adjust to the amount of people coming to Arlington.
“We will be prepared the first couple of games, and we’ll see what the crowds are like and then we’ll adjust off of that,” White said.
There will be a lot of parking available along Abram Street, where J. Gilligan’s, Cheba Hut and Fuzzy’s Taco are located.
“I’m excited to see all the people down here,” White said. “Everybody’s in their country jerseys and got the flags tied around their necks and they do all their chanting and hooting and hollering, and they got their own program. I’m excited to hear all that.”
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