North Texas FWC Organizing Committee President Monica Paul (at microphone) responds to a funny question from question the media as co-chairs Nina Vaca (right) and Dan Hunt (second from left) laugh during a press conference to open the Dallas Host City Media Center in Dallas, June 10, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Dan Hunt has spent the last 107 months preparing North Texas for this World Cup, but the moment that keeps replaying in his mind isn’t a kickoff or an opening ceremony.
It’s his 8‑year‑old daughter asking when she finally gets to see the thing her father has worked on for her entire life.
“She’s eight,” Hunt said, smiling as if the number still surprises him. “Her only memories are me working on the World Cup.”
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The emotional statement from the co‑chair of the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee was an undercurrent running through Wednesday’s press conference at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where organizers were asked about the emotions of finally watching the 2026 World Cup begin.
The tournament, played across the United States, Mexico and Canada, kicked off Thursday with Mexico facing South Africa in Mexico City.
Related: El Tri fans in Dallas erupt as Mexico wins World Cup opener
The first match at Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium) is Sunday, when Japan meets the Netherlands.
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Culminating effort
That game will be the culmination of an enormous, yearslong effort — one that Nina Vaca described as an “army” of people and businesses pushing together to make the World Cup a reality.
North Texas FWC Organizing Committee Co-Chair Nina Vaca delivers remarks during a press conference to open the Dallas Host City Media Center in Dallas, June 10, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
“The apparatus that it takes to put on a World Cup is just incredible,” said Vaca, also a co‑chair of the committee. “We are ready — more than nervous and more than excited — I’m proud. I am proud to showcase this region, showcase this city, to the world.”
For Monica Paul, president of the committee, the emotions were visible. Her eyes filled with tears when she was asked what her state of anticipation would be on Sunday as she walks into the stadium for the Japan–Netherlands match.
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“When you’ve been working on something for so long…” she began, before stopping to fight back tears.
Once she composed herself, she continued: “I care about this city and this region.”
Sunday afternoon, she said, will be a moment she has imagined since Dallas was announced as a host city in 2022 — a moment that became even more real when the match schedule revealed that Dallas would host nine games, more than any other city.
Related: What to know about Dallas’ World Cup teams
Paul said she has been living in a state of anticipation for months — the kind that jolts you awake in the middle of the night with a new item for the to‑do list.
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She admitted she isn’t sure she’ll get any sleep Saturday night. The anticipation is simply too much.
Full-circle moment
For Hunt, who attended his first World Cup in 1986, Sunday’s match at Dallas Stadium will complete a full circle.
He remembered his father, Lamar Hunt, and his role in keeping professional soccer alive in Dallas and leading the 1994 World Cup effort here.
“Walking into Dallas Stadium with my daughters will be a very emotional moment for me,” said Hunt, who estimates he has seen more than 130 World Cup matches in his life. “To be able to take them to games and see how excited they are is really an exciting moment for me.”
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Hunt’s imprint on this World Cup goes beyond his role as an organizer. As president of FC Dallas, he carries a personal sense of pride knowing that the U.S. national team will feature four players developed by the MLS club his family founded more than 30 years ago.
Related: How Dallas’ most eminent soccer family laid the foundation for grand 2026 World Cup stage
And the club’s global reach will be on display, too: three of his current players will represent Sweden, Haiti and Croatia with their respective national teams.
“I’m so proud of that,” he said.
Hunt said he will probably be able to sleep Saturday night — after all, he has been dreaming of this for years.
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The truth is, the anticipation has already arrived. It has been here for months, maybe years.
It’s in the late‑night emails, the early‑morning calls, the endless meetings, the security plans, the transportation maps, the FIFA Fan Fest rehearsals.
And it’s in an 8‑year‑old girl who has never known a version of her father that wasn’t building a World Cup.
On Sunday, she’ll finally see what all those memories were for.