ARLINGTON, Texas (KBTX) - For anyone who has spent any time around Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, a quick glance would reveal things are very different these days.
Gone are the giant rooftop advertisements for the American telecommunications company. That is, mostly gone. The lines across the circular logo for the company still peek through the enormous white tarp blocking it from sight, making a grayscale version of the original brand identifier.
Draped over the stone AT&T Stadium sign that greets visitors at the end of the main drive into the stadium is a cloth reminder of the event that changed the name of the venue to “Dallas Stadium” — the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Different can be disorienting, as Apple Maps proved. Ask Siri for hours at AT&T Stadium and she sometimes says the gigantic sports arena is permanently closed.
Different can also be memorable in the most intriguing ways.
Sunday, KBTX sports director Tyler Shaw and I arrived more than three hours early at AT... Dallas Stadium to cover Saturday’s World Cup group stage match between the Netherlands and Japan. It’s a venue that we are incredibly familiar with, from covering Southwest Classics to high school state finals. For me, there were dozens of assignments inside the stadium for various other former employers.
Neither of us had ever waited more than a few minutes to move through security and into the stadium. Sunday, as the world’s media gathered in Arlington, a line of several hundred members of the press meant an hourlong wait in the sweltering Texas sun to pass into the soccer promised land.
What should have been a miserable experience for everyone involved turned into a memorable experience for those I was standing near. The hour passed quickly as I chatted with three other media members from Africa, Sweden and Thailand. Conversation quickly moved past the heat to matters of international soccer and then even college (American) football. The Swedish journalist said big college football games are more frequently available on streaming in his country. He was shocked — and a little tickled — to learn that Texas A&M’s football program featured a Swede for the last four years.
The elevator to the press box was a literal melting pot. Far more people than should physically have been able to fit in an elevator crowded together to share a multicultural ride and the sweat everyone had worked up standing in the heat. And yet, what little conversation and gestures could be made between press members who didn’t speak the same language were attempted and somehow laughter ensued.
The game itself was a beautiful way to welcome World Cup soccer back to Dallas for the first time since 1994. In that 1994 edition, played at the Cotton Bowl, the Netherlands were downed by eventual champion Brazil in the semifinals. Current coach Ronald Koeman was part of that squad and reminisced about it in a pre-match press conference Saturday.
“A lot of time has passed since that loss to Brazil,” he said. “I honestly don’t remember exactly what I felt in that moment, but I do know it was a great match. It’s a pity we lost.”
For the spectator, Sunday’s match was equally entertaining.
The Netherlands dominated possession through the first half of the game, completing more than twice as many passes as Japan.
The second half began in the same fashion, with the Netherlands scoring in the 51st minute on a perfectly placed header by Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. Japan, working off a low block and counterattacks, equalized six minutes later on a fadeaway shot by Keito Nakamura that deflected off one of his players’ legs, possibly in an offside position, before finding the back of the net.
The Netherlands seemed to have the game wrapped up with a highlight-reel strike from right winger Crysencio Summerville that curled past the keeper into the far post of the net. However, Japan pulled a point out of the matchup with a headed goal by Daichi Kamada in the 88th minute.
Traditionally, cheering is frowned upon in American press boxes and violators are usually subject to ejection. Japan’s media contingent, like its rowdy fan base, rode the wave of every promising counterattack and defensive stop. While this writer would much prefer a quiet atmosphere to craft an article, the joy was undeniable.
And, in another departure from American press norms, the Japanese media corps politely applauded head coach Hajime Moriyasu off the press conference podium after the game, not as a fan cheering a team to victory, but as a group of academics applauding a well-crafted lecture.
The Netherlands were aggrieved not to take three points from a game that they led twice. Japan was pleased to have earned a point against one of the world’s soccer powers. Players and coaches from both teams were appreciative of the facility that housed the game and the atmosphere it produced.
“I think it was a great experience out there,” Van Dijk said. “Big stadium. Good atmosphere. Japan made it a good atmosphere as well, together with our fans. And, the pitch was fine.”
Yes, it’s cliché to say sports unites even the most divided among us. But with all the challenges an event of this magnitude can bring, it was moments of pure joy from everyone that filled AT&T Stadium on Sunday that made it a day to remember.
_KBTX senior sportswriter Travis L. Brown can be reached at travis.brown@kbtx.com._
KBTX Senior Texas A&M Sportswriter(KBTX)
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