Dallas’ favorite home team played at AT&T Stadium and it wasn’t the Cowboys

On Thursday, FIFA announced that the 2026 World Cup had broken its all-time attendance record, eclipsing the 1994 tournament, which just happens to be the only other time the World Cup has been hosted in the U.S. It’s not the most shocking news of course, the stadiums are bigger than ever before and there are more matches filling the bigger-than-ever stadiums thanks to the field’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams for this year. 

In Arlington, at Dallas Stadium, if you will, Thursday’s near-sellout crowd of 70,137 took in what could arguably be described as the lowest-profile North Texas World Cup match thus far in 2026. Following appearances from longstanding global soccer titans the Netherlands, England and Argentina featuring all-time heroes Virgil van Dyke, Harry Kane, Luka Modric, and of course, Lionel Messi, Thursday night’s Japan vs. Sweden match wasn’t as sexy on paper as the others. 

But that didn’t matter to those loyal to either country who made up the crowd of more than 70,000. Japan, who has become an unlikely sort of adopted home team for North Texas over the past two weeks, had already helped produce one of this year’s most exciting World Cup matches the last time it played in Jerryworld, when it rallied to a 2-2 draw against the Dutch on June 14. The past two weeks have seen many Japanese fans go viral for their reaction to Dallas food and fun, and even a simple walk around downtown yeilds a number of Japan jerseys being worn by folks who are not Japanese citizens. Raucous parties at Peticolas Brewing, Harwood Arms and Harwood Park have only solidified the city’s bond with the visiting supporters.

The Japanese supporters, also known as the Ultras Nippon, just as they did before, brought the energy, singing and joy to the match their team needed to at least tie in order to advance to the knockout stage. Although the bright yellow-clad Swedish fans gave the blue-sporting Ultras Nippon a run for their vocal power money early on, it didn’t take long for the “Vamos Nippon” group sing-along to overwhelm the stadium once again. We’d be remiss, however, for not acknowledging the whimsy and admirable enthusiasm “Camp Sweden” brought to the proceedings, complete with blonde braided wigs, viking helmets and many powerful “Kanna på” chants.

For those wondering, the blue trash bags Japanese attendees used for both noise-making and post-match cleaning were widely visible. Also visible and rather conspicuous by its presence were the black curtains on either end of the stadium to block the late-day sun, something that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has publicly refused to use for football games, even though his own players have suffered from losing balls in the glaring sun. 

Once again, the first half was a rather uneventful, tame affair – just like the June 14 match against the Netherlands was – but the second half welcomed a quick burst of action and scoring chances with Japan finally netting a goal in the 56th minute. The eruption that Daizen Maeda’s score caused provided further evidence that, even with 6,400 miles away from Tokyo, the Samurai Blue was, indeed, playing with a home field advantage. 

Sweden’s Anthony Elanga scored a majestic goal from outside of the box in the 62nd minute to pull even with Japan at a goal each. The Swedes needed to win the match to guarantee its spot in the next round, and with the score ending at 1-1, they have to wait to learn their fate, but either way, Elanga’s gorgeous “golazo” strike from beyond 20 yards might be the sweetest score of the tournament thus far. 

Although Japan will not pay another group match in Arlington, fear not, North Texans who have come to enjoy their newly-adopted home club, should the Samurai Blue keep winning, Dallas Stadium could host them again in the round of 16 and even the semi-finals in July.