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A handful of celebrities were spotted at Dallas Stadium in Arlington for the World Cup semifinal matchup between France and Spain on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tom Fox \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
After Dallas-Fort Worth earned rave reviews for successfully hosting nine World Cup<\/a> matches, one lingering question remains: Why didn’t Dallas Stadium get the final?<\/p>\n On Sunday, a few billion people globally will watch the Spain-Argentina final played inside MetLife Stadium, which was awarded the game in February 2024, much to the disappointment of D-FW World Cup organizers.<\/p>\n What has played out since has only amplified the question of whether FIFA got it right. Climate-controlled Dallas Stadium, which hosted more matches (nine) than any of the 16 North American cities<\/a>, received praise for its fan experience, ingress and egress and the quality of the pitch.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Meantime, outdoor MetLife Stadium, which will host its eighth match Sunday, has been criticized for a variety of issues, most notably the heat (which it can’t control), stadium ambience and the grass.<\/p>\n Asked if he was disappointed that Dallas Stadium didn’t get the final, Chad Estis, the Dallas Cowboys<\/a>\u2019 executive vice president of business operations, told The Dallas Morning News: “Yes. Yes. And always will be. I’m biased but just felt we were best suited for it.”<\/p>\n Estis stressed that he’s not complaining, referencing a buffet of World Cup attractions<\/a> that were on display at Dallas Stadium. D-FW hosted a cavalcade of stars \u2014 Lionel Messi (twice), Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal \u2014 and memorable fan bases like Netherlands and Japan. Plus, it hosted the semifinal between France and Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Estis said he never got a “satisfactory” explanation why New Jersey won the final.\u00a0<\/p>\n “My own personal opinion is there was just an element of New York’s the big city that everybody in the world knows,” Estis said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When posed the same question, Monica Paul, the president of the North Texas World Cup Organizing Committee, instead chose to focus on the many highlights of the past several weeks and efforts of countless D-FW leaders and organizers to stage such a global event.<\/p>\n But she addressed the issue at length during a World Cup symposium in April at The Star in Frisco.<\/p>\n “I think we were positioned well for the final,” Paul said during that panel. “You’ve got to look yourself in the mirror at some point and say, ‘Did I leave it all out on the table? Did we do everything we could from a stadium standpoint, a Cowboys standpoint, a city and region standpoint?’ I think we did.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we had the stadium, what they\u2019re getting with the experience, and from a financial standpoint, that was covered as well.\u201d<\/p>\n In the lead-up to the announcement of the site location for the final, Paul said, there were two articles that got their hopes up and stirred their excitement about D-FW landing the game, which only made the letdown that much more pronounced when the site was revealed.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n She said D-FW was still battling “international perception” of New York being the epicenter of the United States.<\/p>\n “I think it was the perception of New York being a more of the capital of the United States, basically, of business in the United States and maybe media as well,” she said. “And I think the president of FIFA makes that decision, so I can’t battle that.”<\/p>\n Spanish fans march to Dallas Stadium before the FIFA World Cup semifinal match between Spain and France in Arlington, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.<\/p>\n Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Years ago, New York City-area stakeholders laid it on thick in their attempt to get the final.<\/p>\n In September 2021, according to NJ.com, a delegation from FIFA was on hand on the top floor of Jersey City\u2019s Hyatt hotel to hear leaders from New Jersey and New York City make their pitch. In a dark room, a video played on big screens, with the narrator, New York City native Robert DeNiro, delivering the message that \u201cthe world\u2019s game\u201d belonged on \u201cthe world\u2019s biggest stage.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The New Jersey stadium, across the Hudson River from New York City, does have another thing going for it.<\/p>\n For World Cup matches, FIFA can sell more tickets to games at MetLife Stadium, whose capacity is around 80,000, compared with some 70,000 for matches at Dallas Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n But MetLife Stadium has largely been panned during the World Cup. Both The Athletic and Sports Illustrated ranked it as the worst of the 16 venues, citing issues ranging from game-day atmosphere to challenging transit in the New York City area.<\/p>\n Then there’s the grass. After France played one match at MetLife Stadium, Front Office Sports reported that France coach Didier Deschamps lamented \u201cthere might be some cement below the grass.\u201d<\/p>\n Worries about the grass at Dallas Stadium are what kept Dan Hunt, co-chair of the North Texas Organizing Committee<\/a>, up at night the entire tournament. But it did more than just hold up.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe pitch looked flawless,” he said. “I’ve seen some other stadiums where it started to show wear and tear. But generally speaking, across the entire tournament, they’ve been great.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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