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Cedric Djontu plays soccer with a group of kids under a 27-foot-tall soccer goal, called the Greatest Goal, at the Presbyterian School Outdoor Education Campus in Houston, Monday, July 6, 2026. The goal was built in honor of the World Cup this past month and has since attracted around 1,500 visitors.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Jalen Archer plays soccer under a 27-foot-tall soccer goal, called the Greatest Goal, at the Presbyterian School Outdoor Education Campus in Houston, Monday, July 6, 2026. The goal was built in honor of the World Cup this past month and has since attracted around 1,500 visitors.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Kids play soccer under a 27-foot-tall soccer goal, called the Greatest Goal, at the Presbyterian School Outdoor Education Campus in Houston, Monday, July 6, 2026. The goal was built in honor of the World Cup this past month and has since attracted around 1,500 visitors.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
A 27-foot-tall soccer net near the Sunnyside area fell short of a Guinness World Record last month,\u00a0but in unofficial terms, it might still be the largest of its kind.<\/p>\n
Looming over a soccer pitch off Highway 288, the newly built “Greatest Goal” has become a hit for hundreds of local families and World Cup visitors at the Presbyterian School Outdoor Education Campus during the last month due in large part to its sheer enormity. The herculean structure erected in honor of the World Cup stretches 65 feet between goalposts and measures roughly 22 feet deep, Ben Hanna, a Christian nonprofit staffer who spearheaded the project, said.<\/p>\n
“We have the world’s largest port in tonnage. We have the world’s largest rodeo. We got the world’s largest medical center,” Hanna said. “Let’s do something that is befitting, is right for the world’s largest sporting event. Let’s do it. Because we want it to reflect that dimension \u2014 the hugeness of the event.”<\/p>\n
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The dimensions would easily shatter the world record for largest soccer net in the world, which measures roughly 48 feet by 13 feet, according to an application for the world record attempt in Houston. But Guinness declined to ratify a new record because of the goal’s material, which differed from the commercial model it was required to replicate for the official title.<\/p>\n
“This is not a reflection on your build quality, which is clearly high,” a letter from Guinness officials reads. “The issue is solely material and visual conformity to the chose template.”<\/p>\n
Hanna said the Houston goal was made of aluminum trusses intended for wind resistance rather than the commercial mode’s aluminum tubing. Guinness encouraged the organization to rework its plans, but world record or not, the soccer net resonated with the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Construction crews are set to disassemble the Greatest Goal on Thursday, one month after its construction was completed ahead of the World Cup, Hanna said. Two Christian nonprofits in Houston \u2014 the Stoller Foundation, where Hanna helps distribute grants to other Christian organizations, and the Hope Legacy Collective \u2014 funded the project as a temporary installation to celebrate the World Cup while sharing their faith with others.<\/p>\n
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“We use this event to bring the community together and, at the same time, spread the Gospel,” 25-year-old Caleb\u00a0Djontu, who has managed the attraction with\u00a0the Stoller Foundation over the past month, said.<\/p>\n
Those objectives have underpinned the monthlong soccer display more than any Guinness World Record attempt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Greatest Goal has been free and open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. since June 11, and hundreds of youth have flocked to the pitch for a chance to kick a ball into the gaping net, which organizers branded as the “world’s largest.” Guests have hailed from Portugal, Argentina and Germany \u2014 countries that each competed in Texas for the World Cup.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the super-sized soccer goal overlooked a “Cup of Nations” tournament starring local amateur teams representing Cape Verde, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Nepal and the United States. Last month, a Tanzanian influencer with 1.8 million\u00a0TikTok followers known as “Iluthefunny” promoted the net on his page, drilling a soccer ball off the crossbar.<\/p>\n