Ahead of the match, fans of both countries gathered in the stadium\u2019s parking lots, cooking up tacos, tortas, burgers and hot dogs, filling the air with the tempting aroma of freshly grilled meats while they listened and danced to Spanish music.<\/p>\n
Come the start of the match, AT&T Stadium was near its seating capacity of 80,000 (the stadium can fit around 105,000 fans including standing room tickets), offering a small taste of what city, regional and FIFA organizers expect next summer for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n
With the\u00a0World Cup kicking off on June 11, 2026<\/a>, organizers expect millions of visitors to converge on North Texas. They\u2019ll bring with them demand for public transit unlike anything the area has experienced in recent memory.<\/p>\n They won\u2019t just be going to the nine matches hosted in Arlington \u2014 the most of any host city \u2014 but for fan festivals there and across the region. Base camps, the places teams will call home during the tournament, will also draw visitors to cities spread out across Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Proud to host<\/p>\n Tens of thousands of Mexico and Colombia soccer fans filled AT&T Stadium Saturday to catch the game.<\/p>\n Angel Estrada was tailgating for the Mexico team with his family outside the fan fest in one of the parking lots.<\/p>\n Sporting his black and green Mexico jersey, he said he\u2019s proud that the region is hosting nine matches and, with that, people and cultures from all over the world during the tournament. It\u2019s an event people across the globe wait (and, in many cases, save up for) during the four-year gap between World Cups.<\/p>\n While local and regional leaders have an idea of what to expect from fan turnout, how those global visitors will get around the Metroplex isn\u2019t as clear.<\/p>\n Getting to the game<\/p>\n Driving to AT&T Stadium Saturday took a KERA reporter about 20 minutes longer than normal, with stop-and-go traffic on Interstate 30 backed up as far west as the Eastchase Parkway exit and continuing to the Center Street exit, where highway signs encouraged stadium traffic to exit.<\/p>\n KERA also took public transit from east Dallas to the match. Another reporter took the lengthy journey riding a Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus with a transfer at Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station in downtown Dallas to a Trinity Railway Express train to Centreport\/DFW station in east Fort Worth.<\/p>\n From there, the reporter took an Arlington Via car all the way to AT&T stadium. The overall trip took about two hours.<\/p>\n For Estrada, the Mexico fan, it doesn\u2019t matter to him how long it takes to get to a game so long as people are having a good time.<\/p>\n With local leaders in Arlington and with the\u00a0North Central Texas Council of Governments\u00a0<\/a>trying to figure out the best and most efficient ways to move people around the region, fans like Estrada know they\u2019ll be going to games no matter how long it takes to get there.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care \u2014 if people come to enjoy and have a friendly time,\u201d Estrada said in Spanish. \u201cHonestly, I do not care if it takes me two hours to get to the match, well, I can\u2019t help it.\u201d<\/p>\n Colombia fan and Arlington resident John Byron drove his pickup to the match to tailgate with his family.<\/p>\n He said that he\u2019s optimistic about traveling during the games, even while he expects big crowds.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a bit of traffic,\u201d Byron said in Spanish. \u201cOf course, there will be going out, but after that, it\u2019ll be easier.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that Arlington is well positioned for all the traffic coming into the city, with I-30 to the north, Interstate 20 to the south and State Highway 360 to the east of the stadium.<\/p>\n The experience taking DART, Trinity Rail Express and Arlington\u2019s subsidized on-demand transit isn\u2019t exactly what organizers are hoping for come next June.<\/p>\n The details are still in the works but elected leaders and transit officials from across North Texas are preparing for the influx of international visitors.<\/p>\n The North Central Texas Council of Governments learned more about those preparations during an Oct. 9 meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good thing about our stadium in this area is we have a lot of parking,\u201d said Natalie Bettger, senior program manager for NCTCOG. \u201cThe challenge we have is having transit to the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n The plans include a \u201creversible managed lane\u201d on Interstate 30 from both downtowns in Dallas and Fort Worth. Drivers will be able to access the lane before and after matches on gamedays.<\/p>\n Bettger said planners are also coordinating with rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft for fans to use their services to get dropped off at Lot H, near the stadium.<\/p>\n As for transit, Bettger said fans will be able to take the Trinity Railway Express to Centreport\/DFW Station in far east Fort Worth, where ticketholders can board a shuttle directly to the stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is really unique about this situation though, and exciting, is in the past we developed a plan for one big game,\u201d Bettger said. \u201cBut we have nine opportunities to make it better \u2026 because we can improve as we proceed through to the final match that we get to have, which is a semifinal.\u201d<\/p>\n Regional transportation director Michael Morris has said each game will be like a Super Bowl in terms of attendance and along with the games, Dallas will be hosting thousands of journalists at the International Broadcast Center and thousands more fans at Fan Fest at Fair Park.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re laser focused on the stadium, whatever Dallas needs at the convention center and whatever Dallas needs at Fair Park,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n Morris said at this point, regional planners are \u201ccrossing the T\u2019s and dotting the I\u2019s\u201d for an updated plan to submit to the\u00a0North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n AI, rideshare and bus drop-offs<\/p>\n Planners in Arlington aren\u2019t taking as active a role in planning how to get visitors into the city.<\/p>\n Alicia Winkelblech, the city\u2019s director of transportation, said Arlington\u2019s focus is on what visitors will find when they reach the entertainment district.<\/p>\n \u201cThe North Central Texas Council of Governments is taking the lead on coordinating regionally as, they do for these big events,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re the one organizing and coordinating with the transit agencies to bring in people on the trains, people on the busses, get people home.\u201d<\/p>\n With the logistics of getting to the stadium being handled by NCTCOG, Arlington is instead focusing on making sure the experience is smooth once fans actually reach the stadium.<\/p>\n Daniel Burnham, the city\u2019s assistant director of public works, said that mission manifests itself in multiple ways.<\/p>\n With buses coming from three directions for matches, festivals and other events, he said it\u2019s the city\u2019s job to find a parking lot near the stadium to designate for drop-off.<\/p>\n The entertainment district will also have more pedestrians than usual.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been upgrading sidewalks throughout the entertainment district to make sure that people who are parking in the various areas around the area have a way to walk,\u201d Burnham said. They\u2019re also making sure to create \u201cplaces that FIFA will be able to put up their signage and say, \u2018This is where you go,\u2019 wayfinding type stuff, making that accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n AI will play a role in traffic management, too.<\/p>\n Arlington has been working to install NoTraffic across the city, allowing it to utilize the AI software to manage how long drivers and pedestrians wait at traffic signals to, hopefully, limit how long people wait at red lights.<\/p>\n Two major transit modes won\u2019t play a role in moving\u00a0World Cup<\/a>\u00a0visitors around.<\/p>\n Flying taxis, which Arlington Mayor Jim Ross hoped would be ready in time for the tournament, won\u2019t be taking spectators to the stadium through the skies.<\/p>\n The city hopes to have them in the skies above the entertainment district, they just won\u2019t be able to board passengers because the vehicles won\u2019t be certified in time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are still going to have at our municipal airport, we\u2019re going to have a location for air taxis to land, take off, and charge,\u201d Winkelblech told KERA News. \u201cBut it\u2019s going be more of a demonstration type thing, if you think kind of world\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n The city\u2019s take on public transit also won\u2019t play a role.<\/p>\n Via, also known as Arlington On-Demand, is a rideshare service subsidized by the city. Arlington doesn\u2019t have any of its own buses, trains or light rails.<\/p>\n Winkelblech said Via meets the average needs of people looking for public transportation, it\u2019s not a good fit for the World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cOur on-demand vehicles will be doing a little bit more of their regular day-to-day, moving people to and from jobs,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we\u2019ve got people that work in the entertainment district, we still want to be able to get them to their jobs, but specifically moving large masses of people, that\u2019s not where microtransit excels because they get stuck in the traffic with everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer Wichmann, Arlington\u2019s deputy city manager, said the city doesn\u2019t yet know how many people are estimated to drive to AT&T Stadium in personal or rented cars, but that the current expectation is that more visitors will utilize public transit and rideshare like Uber and Lyft than driving themselves.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ezgif-42f7daf4e927bb.webp\")
Jennifer Rico holds a Mexican flag while tailgating before the Mexico vs. Colombia MexTour Match on Saturday, October. 11. 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. North Texas is expected to have millions of fans visiting from across the world during the FIFA World Cup in 2026 that will include fan festivals and tailgating parties. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA News)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ezgif-1b4d3de01108c0.jpg\")
Fans gather to tailgate before the Mexico vs. Colombia game on Saturday, October. 11. 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA News)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ezgif-363a556bc40803.jpg\")
Columbia Captain James Rodriguez celebrates Forward Luis Diaz scoring a goal during the Mexico vs. Colombia MexTour Match on Saturday, October. 11. 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA News)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/90-5.jpeg\")
The Arlington Entertainment District includes the National Medal of Honor Museum, Texas Live!, Choctaw Stadium and Globe Life Field. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA)<\/p>\n
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