Dallas Stadium hosted last-four tie that saw Spain defeat France to reach the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final
Semi-final was the Texas venue’s ninth match, the most across the 16 Host Cities
Argentina’s Lionel Messi among those to set new tournament records in Dallas
A high-stakes semi-final encounter between France and Spain was a fitting finale to Dallas Stadium’s stellar contribution to the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
The last-four showdown was the stunning Texas venue’s ninth game of the tournament – the most staged by any of the 16 Host Cities – as Spain made it through to their second FIFA World Cup™ final thanks to a 2-0 victory.
“Hosting nine FIFA World Cup matches in just 31 days has been a marathon. It required extraordinary planning, coordination, and commitment, and it simply would not have been possible without the countless people and organisations who came together to make it happen,” said Monica Paul, President of the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee, who saw France become the 15th different team to play in Dallas.
“Over these past several weeks, fans from every corner of the globe filled our stadiums, parks, restaurants, neighbourhoods – and our hearts. Different languages were spoken. Different flags were waved. Different songs were sung. Yet everyone shared something in common: a love for the beautiful game and a belief that sport has the power to unite us. Dallas has always been known for thinking big. But this summer, we didn't just think big – we welcomed the world in a way that reflected the very best of who we are.”
Dallas’ FIFA World Cup 2026™ story started with drama on 14 June as Daichi Kamada’s 88th-minute equaliser earned Japan a point in their opening Group F game with the Netherlands. The Samurai Blue would later return to collect another point in a 1-1 draw with Sweden that took both teams into the Round of 32.
England’s run to the semi-final began in Dallas with an impressive 4-2 defeat of 2018 runners-up Croatia for whom Luka Modrić became the first player to appear in five editions of FIFA’s global showpiece.
More tournament history beckoned for Lionel Messi on the first of Argentina’s two visits to Dallas. Though he had earlier missed a penalty, the three-time winners’ iconic No. 10 scored both goals in the 2-0 defeat of Austria that moved him clear of Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the FIFA World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.
Messi found the net again as Jordan were defeated 3-1 in the Albiceleste’s final Group J game. Their opponents could take comfort from Mousa Al-Tamari’s strike, which meant the Asian nation were the only one of the four tournament debutants to score in all three group matches.
Côte d’Ivoire’s arrival in Dallas for their Round of 32 meeting with Norway took the number of confederations represented at the venue to four. Despite Amad Diallo scoring Côte d’Ivoire’s first FIFA World Cup knockout stage goal, an 86th-minute Erling Haaland effort propelled Norway into the Round of 16.
There were better fortunes for the second African team to come to Dallas as Egypt advanced to the Round of 16 thanks to a penalty shoot-out win against Australia in a gripping first-ever FIFA World Cup knockout match between teams representing the African and Asian confederations.
Dallas’ place in FIFA World Cup history was further cemented when Unai Simón broke Walter Zenga’s tournament record with a sixth successive clean sheet in Spain’s 1-0 Round of 16 win against Portugal. The eventual finalists’ victory over their European neighbours and fellow FIFA World Cup 2030™ co-hosts was watched by a capacity crowd of 70,649, which took all-time FIFA World Cup attendance past the 50 million mark.
Mikel Merino’s decisive strike a minute into added time that took the 2010 champions into the quarter-finals only dialled up the Dallas drama before it reached its peak as La Roja claimed their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final.