Inside the £1billion stadium in Dallas overlooked for the 2026 World Cup final, but will instead stage the semis: The venue will welcome over 90,000 fans and has one of the world’s largest video screens but has been snubbed for New York’s MetLife Stadium

The Maracana, Wembley and the Azteca are among the iconic stadiums to have played host to football’s biggest match: The World Cup final.

Just 20 venues have had the honour of providing the stage for final, with the Maracana and the Azteca doing so on two occasions.

On Sunday, FIFA announced that the MetLife Stadium in New York will host the 2026 World Cup final.

In a two-way tussle with the AT&T Stadium in Dallas will become the 21st – many expected the latter to be announced to stage the finale of the 104 match tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had lauded the stadium when he visited back in September, appearing to hint that the venue was set to be chosen.

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‘The stadium is absolutely fantastic,’ Infantino said.

‘It’s incredible to be here… it’s important to see all the stadiums, it’s important to see what is done for the fans.

‘I have to say in America, you are light years ahead compared to the rest of the world.

‘So, we’re here to learn, we are here to check and we are here to make, and organise, the biggest, biggest World Cup ever.’ 

The Swiss official made the comments as he watched the Dallas Cowboys earn a 30-10 win over the New York Jets. Alas, it didn’t prove to be an omen with New York beating Dallas to secure the 2026 final.

Clearly, Infantino did not take too much offence to being booed when his face appeared on screen at the venue.

FIFA has described the Dallas venue as a ‘jaw-dropping example of stadium architecture’, adding that it provides a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ visitor experience.

While typically boasting a capacity of 80,000 – less than the MetLife’s 82,500 – the bid book says the venue will house 92,967 fans during the World Cup.

The capacity will be the highest of all the 16 stadiums selected for the expanded 48-team tournament, with the potential for a further expansion to over 100,000 seats.

The stadium has been the home to the Dallas Cowboys since 2009 after the near £1billion project was completed.

Initially known as the Cowboys Stadium, a naming rights agreement with the telecommunications company AT&T was reached in 2014. The stadium has also been dubbed as Jerry World and The Death Star after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Under FIFA’s policy of World Cup venues remaining unsponsored, the venue is expected to be known as Dallas Stadium or revert to Cowboys Stadium for the duration of the tournament.

The stadium boasts over 300 luxury suites, 10  premium clubs, and club seating on multiple levels, which typically offer premium hospitality during NFL matches and will provide similar during the World Cup.

This includes the Touchdown and Field suites which offer guests unique views from either behind each endzone during matches or from the north or south sidelines. The latter also includes a lounge which lets fans watch players enter and level the field of play via a Draftkings Club.

The stadium also includes Hall of Fame, Owners and Optum Club suites, with the latter claimed to be the best experience in the NFL.

The suite features an all-inclusive Legends club, where chefs serve five-star catering and a bar with service from the city’s top mixologists. Each suite includes granite countertops, plush stadium seating, in-suite private restrooms, while the sightlines are considered to be the best in the venue.

Prices of the private suites are claimed to range from between £4,700 to £70,000, according to the Suite Experience Group. In their bid book to FIFA, organisers said the stadium can host 10,000 people in luxury suites, as well as a further 15,000 in club seats.

The stadium notably has two arches which support a retractable roof, offering the prospect the World Cup semi-final can be held indoors. 

A closed roof and climate control would enable organisers to play the semi-final on July 14 in a cooler temperature, with Dallas capable of reaching as high a 36°C during the month.

‘We have over three million air-conditioned square feet inside the stadium,’ Jones said when pitching to host the final.

‘The stadium has complete flexibility as to its weather conditions. We can basically have perfect weather.’

Beneath the roof, the stadium boasts a giant HDTV, measured at 160 feet wide and 72 feet tall. The video display was the biggest in the world when the stadium opened.

The giant screen, suspended 28 metres above the pitch, cost a reported £31.5million and took Mitsubishi over one year to construct and four months to install.

The screen is not the only excess at the stadium, which also boasts a world class collection of contemporary art. More than 50 pieces from an international array of curated artists are displayed on walls and public spaces at the venue.

The stadium typically hosts NFL events and staged the 2011 Super Bowl, but has repeatedly hosted major events and concerts.

This includes hosting the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, as well as boxing fights featuring the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez. Alvarez’s fight with Billy Joe Saunders in 2021 achieved a record 73,126 crowd for a boxing match indoors in the United States.

Increasingly the stadium has welcomed football matches, with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea among the leading clubs to have been hosted, as well as the Mexican national team.

Key matches at the CONCACAF Gold Cup have been staged at the venue, while the stadium will also host matches at this summer’s Copa America.

The Dallas-bid team had stressed these matches showed their experience in switching between turf and grass pitches, with the latter required by FIFA for the World Cup.

‘We’ve done this on multiple occasions, modified the boundaries in the stadium, basically cleared out some of the infrastructure at the field level,’ Jones said.

‘The stadium was built to do that. Not only do we have the flexibility [to install natural] grass, but we also have the ability to configure the actual field size.’

The comment was backed up by Dan Hunt, chairman of Dallas’ World Cup bid and FC Dallas President. Hunt’s late father and businessman, Lamar Hunt, was a key figure in the growth of the professional game in the United States in the 1990s and helped deliver the 1994 World Cup.

‘We’ve proven we can put a grass field in the stadium, and stadium modifications will be minimal,’ Hunt said.

‘I think a number of venues are struggling with what their modifications will have to be.

‘I know a lot of these stadiums well, being in the NFL business, and AT&T looks like it’ll be on the low side of renovations.’

Dallas is also seeking to host the World Cup’s Broadcast Centre and host the referee headquarters during the tournament. 

FIFA previously placed its tournament headquarters and the IBC in the Texan city during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, when Dallas hosted six matches at the Cotton Bowl.

Globe Life Field and Choctaw Stadium, the current and former homes of the Texas Rangers baseball team, have been earmarked to host major fan festivals during the World Cup.

‘You could cordon off this whole area and do a ticketed event of 200,000+ people, something that has never ever been seen at a World Cup, especially a World Cup final before,’ Hunt said in October.

‘This would be something that I think would set the record.

‘FIFA wants to continue to innovate and by doing this, we’re doing something that I’m not sure we’ll ever be done again.’

One potential issue facing fans is that the AT&T is not currently accessible through public transport, but Dallas organisers have insisted they are on top of planning – something they will have to sort as a semi-final host.

The stadium looked set to join the iconic Rose Bowl in California in becoming the second venue in the United States to stage the FIFA Men’s World Cup final. However, it’ll now have to make do with the semi-finals after New York got the nod.