The countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026 continues as Dallas prepares to host the world's biggest sporting event.
On Thursday, organizers unveiled the first major milestone on the road to FIFA – the official brand and colors that will represent Dallas three years from now.
“These colors represent the energy and the vibrance of who we are as a city and as a region,” said Charlotte Jones, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer of the Dallas Cowboys. “This is just the beginning of really bringing everybody to support this effort and be represented on the world stage.”
The green and teal colors were displayed throughout the AT&T Discovery District as the key players in planning the FIFA World Cup in Dallas gathered to give an update on the progress.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
To drum up more excitement for what's to come in 2026, the Dallas skyline will shine bright with green and teal Thursday night.
“This has been a long process starting back in 2017 and it’s getting faster and faster now,” said Dan Hunt, President of FC Dallas.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The World Cup is the biggest single-sport event of all time. The new tournament format will see 48 teams in 104 matches in 16 host cities across three countries.
But Hunt said none of the others have quite as a unique of a planning committee as Dallas does, with major organizations like the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers and more coming together to make it happen.
“I see a lot of these other big cities, and I think a lot of them are doing a great job but it doesn’t seem like they have quite the relationships that this group of people have,” he said.
Hunt has been instrumental in getting the FIFA World Cup back to Dallas with a full-court press campaign as to why North Texas is the perfect place to host such an event.
FIFA events will spread out in cities like Arlington, Frisco and Fort Worth, with upwards of eight games possible at AT&T stadium.
“The involvement of the mayors and the councils has been remarkable. They support it and they get what’s going on here,” said Hunt.
The big question now is which city will get to host the World Cup final? Dallas is in the running and that's the ultimate goal on the planning wish list.
“The big prizes in this tournament are obviously the opening match, the two semifinals and the final. And also to get the U.S. men’s national team. That would be a big one,” said Hunt. “I want to have a base camp for visiting national teams. That would be incredibly important because the economic impact on those communities is fabulous. We will be chasing the big ones – Toyota Stadium, Fair Park, SMU. Fort Worth has come back and said multiple times that they would try to host a visiting national team, too.”
A decision on where finals matches are held could be made as early as this fall when the match schedule is released, potentially in September. Then even more detailed planning will commence.
“So as soon as that happens, it will give us a lot of opportunity from a planning standpoint to adjust economic impact numbers,” said Dallas Sports Commission Executive Director, Monica Paul. “Once we know that match schedule, there are conversations from a safety and security standpoint on a federal level taking place, transportation meetings, and what types of plans do we need to put in there.”
Hunt and his team are pitching the triple stadiums in Arlington to FIFA as the site for the final match.
“It’s no secret that AT&T Stadium is magnificent and it’s an incredible economic driver. But we’ve got Choctaw Stadium, Globe Life Field and Texas Live!,” he said. “My pitch is not we’re going to do an event of 90,000 for the World Cup final. We’re going to do an event of a couple of hundred thousand for the World Cup final. And we will be the only [place] that you could ever do this because there are not three stadiums adjacent to each other like this that can support such great crowds.”
They’re talking with the Rangers about the possibility of doing concerts at Globe Life Field on the days that games aren’t being played.
Dallas is also bidding to host the international broadcast center at Fair Park and the referee headquarters in Frisco. FIFA officials could make a decision on those this summer.
Paul said they would soon incorporate initiatives that will ensure communities across North Texas will be able to celebrate the FIFA World Cup when it arrives, including more fields and resources for youth soccer teams.
“Legacy is something that is very important," Paul said. "Ensuring that we’re leaving a legacy in this community after the World Cup is equally important. And that can come in many different forms and fashions."
The games are expected to create 3,000 new jobs in North Texas, with an economic impact of more than half a billion dollars.
“Imagine the energy around a Super Bowl and multiply that times six or seven. And we’re going to have that right here in Dallas,” said Jones. “We’re going to show the World Cup what Dallas is all about.”
Looking ahead, the U.S. and Mexico are also going in on a joint bid for the Women's World Cup in 2027.
