AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium opened in 2009 in Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is the home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise and is among the most recognised sports venues in the United States. The stadium’s defining features are its retractable roof, fully climate-controlled interior, and a massive video display board suspended end zone to end zone that set a record at opening and remains one of the largest in the world.

The standard capacity is 80,000, which places AT&T Stadium as the second-largest venue at the 2026 tournament. The retractable roof is critical context for June and July in North Texas: temperatures regularly exceed 38 degrees Celsius, making climate control a genuine health consideration rather than just comfort.

The IANA timezone is America/Chicago, UTC-5 during Central Daylight Time across the tournament. Dallas and Houston share the same offset. A 20:00 kickoff at AT&T Stadium is 21:00 in New York, 01:00 in London, and 09:00 in Tokyo. Central time is the sweetest spot for live European viewers: 19:00 local starts land at midnight in the UK and 01:00 in Central Europe.

AT&T Stadium sits in Arlington, roughly midway between Dallas and Fort Worth. The venue is accessible by road and has extensive parking, but there is no direct rail connection from central Dallas. Visitors should plan for ride-share or a rental car.

AT&T Stadium hosts 9 World Cup 2026 matches: 5 group stage fixtures, 2 rounds of 32, a round of 16, and a semi-final, making it one of the two venues hosting the most matches in the tournament.

World Cup History

Dallas hosted World Cup football in 1994 at the Cotton Bowl, a historic venue in Fair Park that had been part of the city’s sporting fabric since the 1930s. The 1994 tournament was the United States’ first as host, and Dallas was among its most prominent venues.

Germany played their group stage matches at the Cotton Bowl in 1994. They came into that tournament as defending world champions, having won in Italy four years earlier. Germany progressed through the group stage in Dallas before eventually falling to Bulgaria in the quarter-finals in a different city. Spain also played in Dallas that summer, in the same group.

The Cotton Bowl hosted a round of 16 match as the tournament progressed into the knockout phase, cementing Dallas as one of the more consequential venues of that edition.

AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009, is a completely different proposition from the Cotton Bowl: covered, climate-controlled, and nearly twice the capacity. It represents a step change in what the Dallas area can offer a World Cup. A semi-final here in 2026 will be the biggest match this region has hosted since 1994.