ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 The FIFA World Cup entered its final stages this week, and North Texas hosted one of the tournament\u2019s biggest matches: France versus Spain. The two European countries met on Tuesday in the semi-final at Dallas Stadium in Arlington.<\/p>\n
With only four nations remaining in the tournament, fans from around the world have gathered in Texas, turning the region into an international hub of soccer culture. From restaurants and attractions to fan events and hostels, visitors have spent weeks experiencing the state\u2019s hospitality while following their national teams.<\/p>\n
The shared passion for soccer has brought together people who were strangers only days before.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea what the game will be like,\u201d said JC Guinot, who traveled from France.<\/p>\n
Guinot said his trip to Texas depended entirely on France advancing to the semi-final.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf France was not qualifying for the semi-final, I would not have come. So I had to find a flight ticket two days ago,\u201d Guinot said.<\/p>\n
Also making the journey is Elad Avraham, a South Texas college soccer player who has attended multiple World Cup matches during the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to Argentina versus Austria. And two days ago, Argentina versus Switzerland,\u201d Avraham said.<\/p>\n
While the World Cup has showcased elite soccer on the field, it has also introduced visitors to Texas. During the tournament, the state has hosted fans representing 15 different national teams, providing an opportunity to experience North Texas beyond the stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past month, North Texas has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, with millions more watching from around the world,\u201d said Monica Paul of the North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee.<\/p>\n
Visitors have taken in local attractions, food and Texas traditions alongside the matches. For Guinot, the trip has been about more than soccer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just means a lot, and just the experience and the feeling that you have\u00a0\u2014 it\u2019s crazy,\u201d Guinot said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 The FIFA World Cup entered its final stages this week, and North Texas hosted one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1570,102,104,103,8082,19797,27,26986,1569,835,3692,29003],"class_list":["post-373064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-ctv","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dfw-what-you-need-to-know","tag-michael-lozano","tag-texas","tag-texas-editors-picks","tag-texas-what-you-need-to-know","tag-vod","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}