{"id":379179,"date":"2026-07-20T01:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T01:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/379179\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T01:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T01:27:13","slug":"texas-take-on-the-world-cup-the-daily-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/379179\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas\u2019 Take on the World Cup \u2013 The Daily Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the fan culture. With the FIFA World Cup having been in full swing this summer, two Texas cities hosted games, and fans across the state built community around the occasion.<\/p>\n

\"\"Soccer fans lining up to get into the FIFA Fan Fest in downtown Houston on July 5, 2026. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n

Thousands gathered in eastern downtown Houston for the FIFA Fan Fest on July 5. The festival repeatedly reached its capacity of 7,500 people, but fans continued to line the streets of nearby bars and other watch parties. People come to the Fan Fest for the experience, which is just as important as the sport itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Alondra and Dayna Gonzalez smile outside of the FIFA Fan Fest line on July 5, 2026, in downtown Houston. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n

For sisters Alondra Gonzalez, 22, and Dayna Gonzales, 19, the event was an opportunity for sisterly bonding, as well as making connections with other attendees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel like you\u2019re friends with everyone that\u2019s next to you,\u201d Alondra said.<\/p>\n

The sisters said the high-energy, bustling environment united everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole night, everyone\u2019s sharing everything,\u201d said Danya.\u201cPeople give each other water. Everyone is so nice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all unified, for 90 minutes at least,\u201d Alondra said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Attendees watching the Mexico vs. England game on the upstairs patio of King\u2019s Court in downtown Houston on July 5, 2026. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n

Despite the 100-degree weather, the atmosphere of the FIFA Fan Festivals encourages soccer fans to come together as a community.<\/p>\n

\"\"Two police officers monitor the nearby line for the FIFA Fan Fest on July 5, 2026, in downtown Houston. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe environment here \u2026 you\u2019re not gonna have that type of feeling at home,\u201d Cindy Laynez, 20, said.<\/p>\n

Agustin Flores, 21, agreed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt home, even with friends, yeah, you have fun. Here you have hundreds of people rooting for the same team,\u201d said Flores.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cindy Laynez and Agustin sit on the steps outside of the FIFA Fan Fest on July 5, 2026, in downtown Houston. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n

While Houston\u2019s FIFA Fan Festival is an official watch party, the same sense of community extends all the way to Austin. At Victory Lap in West Campus, the USA vs. Belgium game gathered a large crowd.<\/p>\n

\"\"Fans watching the United States-Belgium game at Victory Lap on July 6, 2026. (Jules Weinstein)
\n\"\"A Belgium fan reacts to the first Belgium goal against the United States at Victory Lap on July 6, 2026. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bigger screen, and there\u2019s more people here, so you kind of get that environment going,\u201d said Siddharth Vadlamani, 21, a biochemistry senior. \u201cWhenever we score a goal, everybody\u2019s on their feet, everybody\u2019s cheering.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Siddharth Vadlamani sits on the Victory Lap patio before the United States-Belgium World Cup game on July 6, 2026. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n

The West Campus sports bar draws University of Texas students, alumni and fans to watch their favorite teams on the big screen. From Saturday Longhorn football games in the fall to \u201cLove Island\u201d watch parties in the summer, the West Campus bar opens its arms to all fans to watch on the big screen together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou build some camaraderie, you just get to hang out with people your own age,\u201d Vadlamani said.<\/p>\n

\"\"United States fans react after the U.S.A. team scores its first goal against Belgium at Victory Lap on July 6, 2026. (Jules Weinstein)
\n\"\"An \u201cI believe that we will win\u201d sign is pictured at Victory Lap on July 14, 2026. (Jules Weinstein)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everything is bigger in Texas, including the fan culture. With the FIFA World Cup having been in full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-379179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379179","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=379179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}