HARRIS COUNTY-HOUSTON SPORTS AUTHORITY INSIDER

Soccer matters: Houston hopes to be one of the U.S. cities hosting the 2026 World Cup

Patti Smith
Aug 31, 2018, 5:51 am
Could NRG host the World Cup? NRG Park/Facebook

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Now that the U.S., Mexico and Canada have won the combined bid to host the 2026 World Cup, we move to the next question:

Will Houston be one of the host cities?

The simple answer is we hope so. Houston is one of 17 U.S. cities vying for 10 host spots and – bottom line -- we’ve got 24 months to show FIFA and U.S. Soccer that we deserve to be a host city.

We all know soccer is growing exponentially on all levels in the nation’s fourth-largest -- and one of the most diverse -- cities in America. Whether we’re talking the Houston Dynamo or Dash, international events or high school and league play, the game is huge.

Just ask some of the 70,728 fans who packed NRG Stadium for the 2016 Copa America U.S. vs. Argentina semifinal and set a Houston soccer attendance record with 70,728. Or the 1.5 million fans who have turned out to see the 2010 MLS All-Star Game, 4 CONCACAF Gold Cups and 33 total major soccer matches at NRG.

Or the fans who have turned out for 250 soccer events – including three CONCACF Gold Cups and the 2012 Men’s World Cup qualifier – at BBVA Compass Stadium.

“Every soccer match we host from here on out will be viewed by FIFA and US Soccer and their success will show Houston’s passion for the game of soccer,’’ said Doug Hall, Harris County - Houston Sports Authority VP for Special Projects. “So we’re on a two-year dating period if you will.’’

And it’s not just about organizing committee, sponsors and stadiums. The fans can make a huge impact as well by supporting the Dynamo, Dash and all the major events in Houston.

It all starts in September when NRG and BBVA each host big matches. NRG hosts Mexico and Uruguay in a big international match Sept. 7 and the Dynamo meet Philadelphia in the U.S. Open Cup Sept. 26. The NRG match marks the 17th time Mexico has played in Houston.

Canada and Mexico have already chosen three cities each – Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey -- to host matches and Houston is on the shorter end of that American list that includes New York, Washington DC, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas.

At Tuesday’s “State of Soccer” luncheon, officials including Hall, HCHSA CEO Janis Burke, Houston Texans and Lone Star Sports & Entertainment president Jamey Rootes and Dynamo and Dash president Chris Canettti, said the estimated economic impact is $350-$450 million per city.

“It’s a transformational event,’’ said Rootes. “Not just a national event. A global, global audience. The eyes of the world on the city of Houston.”

The last time the U.S. hosted a World Cup was 1994 and Houston wasn’t chosen to host. Dallas did host in 1994 at the Cotton Bowl. Canetti pointed to the impact that World Cup had on the growth of soccer both in Houston and the U.S.

“We all saw what having the World Cup being here in 1994 meant to the growth of the game and really led to the start of MLS,’’ he said. “Having the World Cup here in 2026 is not going to be just an economic boon, but an opportunity to grow the game of soccer here in the United States.’’

Host cities will have six matches – one every five days – and corresponding events over a 32-day period from mid-June to mid-July 2026.

Houston has a proven track record with huge events, having hosted two Super Bowls, two Final Fours and three NCAA Men’s Basketball Regionals.  We’ll also host the 2023 Men’s Final Four, a 2020 NCAA Men’s Regional and U.S. Women’s Open and the 2024 College Football Playoff.

Burke said people always ask her if the World Cup is bigger than a Super Bowl.

“It really is,’’ she said. “It’s hard for Americans sometimes to understand that. But it’s way bigger even than the Super Bowl.’’

Houston threw a week-long party when we hosted historic Super Bowl LI in 2017. The events during the week were sensational and the game was one of the best ever with New England coming from a record 25 points down in the third quarter to beat Atlanta 32-24 in the first overtime win in Super Bowl history.

That said, turn out and help us show FIFA and US soccer how passionate Houston is about the sport.

The clock is ticking.



 

 

 

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THE SOCCER REPORT

Boca-River Libertadores final delivers exciting opener; Cristiano Ronaldo hitting on all cylinders for Juventus

Carlos Tevez has challenged his Boca Juniors teammates to keep their heads up after drawing 2-2 with rivals River Plate in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores Final. Nike, Inc.

Manchester City, FC Barcelona, Dortmund, Juventus and PSG maintain leads in their respective leagues while the MLS Cup Playoffs is down to four teams. All eyes, however, were on South America as one of the fiercest rivalries reached new heights with the Copa Libertadores title on the line.

English Premier League

Matchday 12 in the Premier League provided close encounters with five of the 10 matches resulting in draws and three other results decided by one goal. In fact, the biggest margin of victory this week was by two and it included the top two sides in the standings - Manchester City and Liverpool.

The five stalemates where Southampton-Watford (1-1), Leicester City-Burnley (0-0), Huddersfield-West Ham (1-1), Chelsea-Everton (0-0) and Arsenal-Wolves (1-1). The biggest setbacks where obviously for Chelsea, who stay in third but see the gap widen from the title race, and Arsenal, who dropped to fifth and now saw Tottenham pass them by three points. Bournemouth stay in sixth but took a hit with a 1-2 loss at Newcastle. Watford and Manchester United have equaled Bournemouth with 20 points and Everton is one point behind at 9th place.

Mohamed Salah was influential in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Fulham but Manchester City maintained first place in the standings with a 3-1 win over rivals United in the Manchester Derby.

Big news came down this Wednesday as last place Fulham announced Claudio Ranieri as their new manager. The Italian tactician led Leicester City on that Cinderella Premier League title run that later saw him named the The Best FIFA Men's Coach in 2016.

Off the field, the Premier League announced a new CEO, and their first top female executive, in Animal Planet chief Susanna Dinnage. The new PL chief will take over in January and will be tasked with the continuing global growth of the Premier League.

Top six: 1. Manchester City (32), 2. Liverpool (30), 3. Chelsea (28), 4. Tottenham (27), 5. Arsenal (24), 6. Bournemouth (20)

Scoring leader: 8 - Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Assists leader: 6 - Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth)

Spain’s La Liga

Don’t pencil in FC Barcelona as the champions just yet. The defending champions suffered a dramatic 3-4 loss to the visiting Real Betis and have been kept within range in the Spanish title race. Sevilla, with a 2-1 win over Espanyol, and Atletico Madrid, with a late 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao, each picked up three points to pull within one of 1st place.

Real Madrid picked up their 4th straight win with a 4-2 victory at Celta Vigo, a result that influenced two managerial announcement. Real Madrid Manager Santiago Solari saw his interim tag removed and has assured himself the position with a contract lasting until June 2021. Celta Vigo, meanwhile, parted ways with Antonio Mohamed and announced Miguel Cardoso as their new manager.

La Liga will resume after the international break with a match of title implications as third place Atletico Madrid hosts FC Barcelona in the Spanish capital.

Top six: 1. Barcelona (24), 2. Sevilla (23), 3. Atletico Madrid (23), 4. Alaves (23), 5. Espanyol (21), 6. Real Madrid (20)

Scoring leader: 9 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) / Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona)

Assists leader: 5 - Jony Rodriguez (Alaves) / Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

German Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund are looking every bit the part of the champion after a 3-2 win over rivals Bayern Munich. The two were separated by four points and Bayern were looking to shorten that gap to one on their path to a 28th league title and their potential 7th consecutive title. Dortmund, the last champion before Bayern’s six-season stranglehold, now look like a potential threat to that dynasty.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Luka Jović had a brace in Frankfurt’s 3-0 win over Schalke 04 to take the top spot in the golden boot race. Monchengladbach and Leipzig also picked up three points apiece to take advantage of Bayern’s loss and move up the standings.

Top six: 1. Dortmund (27), 2. Monchengladbach (23), 3. RB Leipzig (22), 4. Eintracht Frankfurt (20), 5. Bayern Munich (20), 6. Hoffenheim (19)

Scoring leader: 9 - Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Assists leader: 6 - Jadon Sancho (Dortmund)
 

Italian Serie A

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to perform for Juventus by scoring in the marquee match at A.C. Milan. The 2-0 result keeps Juve in a somewhat comfortable lead as CR7 is now second in both goals and assists. Napoli kept pace with the leaders with a 2-1 win at Genoa while Inter Milan fall back to third with an embarrassing 1-4 loss at Atalanta. Lazio could not bring away the full three points at Sassuolo while Roma makes its way up the table with a 4-1 win vs. Sampdoria.

Top six: 1. Juventus (34), 2. Napoli (28), 3. Inter Milan (25), 4. Lazio (22), 5. Milan (21), 6. Roma (19)

Scoring leader: 9 - Krzysztof Piątek (Genoa)

Assists leader: 8 - Suso (A.C. Milan)

French Ligue 1

Another day, another win for Paris Saint-Germain. The defending champions are now on a thirteen match winning streak with a 4-0 win at Monaco. Lille drew 0-0 with Strasbourg and Montpelier lost 1-0 at Angers, stretching PSG’s lead even further. Lyon remains in the top four with a 4-2 win at Guingamp with St-Etienne and  Marseille picking up wins of their own to keep them in the picture for European competition next season.

Top six: 1. PSG (39), 2. Lille (26), 3. Montpellier (25), 4. Lyon (24), 5. St-Etienne (23), 6. Marseille (22)

Scoring leader: 11 - Emiliano Sala (Nantes) / Kylian Mbappé (PSG)

Assists leader: 6 - Angel Di Maria (PSG)

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Major League Soccer

We’re down to the last four in the MLS Cup Playoffs: New York Red Bulls and Atlanta United in the East, Sporting Kansas City and Portland Timbers in the West.

New York City FC could not extend their season after defeating Philadelphia Union in the knockout round and lost their series against Atlanta by 4-1 on aggregate. The main question with NYCFC is what will be their direction after failing to win any hardware with 2010 FIFA World Cup winner David Villa, who will reportedly part ways from the club this offseason. Columbus Crew are left with a similar question as they too are eliminated. The Crew took care of red hot D.C. United in the knockout stage but could not get past the mighty Red Bulls in the conference semifinals. With Crew Head Coach Gregg Berhalter reportedly the leading candidate to take over the U.S. national team, many wonder who will lead Columbus next year.

In the West, Los Angeles FC and FC Dallas could not translate successful seasons into lengthy playoff runs. Both teams were one-and-done against lower seeds Real Salt Lake and Portland Timbers, respectively. RSL gave West No. 1 seed Sporting KC a scare but ultimately could not get past a more complete team. The Timbers, on the other end, took Seattle Sounders FC to extra time in the second leg of the Western conference finals, eliminating their bitter rivals on penalties.

The playoffs now take a hiatus due to the international break and return on Nov. 25 with the start of the Conference finals. The two conference champions will meet in the MLS Cup Final, hosted at the higher seed, on Dec. 8.

Playoff Results:

Knockout Round 

(E3) New York City 3-1 (E6) Philadelphia Union

(E4) D.C. United 2-2 (2-3 pens) (E5) Columbus Crew

(W3) LAFC 2-3 (W6) Real Salt Lake

(W4) FC Dallas 1-2 (W5) Portland Timbers

Conference semifinals 

(E1) New York Red Bulls 3-1 agg. (E5) Columbus Crew

(E2) Atlanta United 4-1 agg. (E3) New York City

(W1) Sporting KC 5-3 agg. (W6) Real Salt Lake

(W2) Seattle Sounders 4-4 agg. (2-4 pens) (W5) Portland Timbers

Liga MX

The playoff picture is almost complete in Mexico with one matchday left in the Apertura 2018 tournament. The eight are essentially the same we’ve seen for a few weeks, with a bit of shuffling around from one through eight. Cruz Azul is back on top with a 2-1 win over Lobos BUAP while Santos and America drew 1-1 this past weekend. Pumas took advantage of the latter by moving up to third in the standings with a 1-0 win over Toluca. Frenchman Andre-Pierre Gignac scored four in a 6-1 Tigres win against Puebla to propel his side up to sixth. In the final playoff spot, Monarcas may have all but booked their spot with a 3-2 win over Tijuana. Pachuca and Queretaro, at 9th and 10th with 23 points each, are the only teams on the bubble with possibilities to crash the party.

With Liga MX taking a rest due to the FIFA international break, many teams use the opportunity to stay in action by touring in the United States. Tigres UANL and Pumas UNAM, two contenders for this season’s title, will face off on Saturday (2:00 p.m. kickoff) in Downtown Houston. Plenty of tickets are still available at BBVACompassStadium.com

Top eight: 1. Cruz Azul (33), 2. Club America (30), 3. Pumas UNAM (29), 4. Santos Laguna (29), 5. Monterrey (27), 6. Tigres UANL (26), 7. Toluca (26), 8. Morelia (25)
 

Scoring leader(s): 14 - André-Pierre Gignac (Tigres UANL)

Assists leader: 8 - Dorlan Pabon (Monterrey)

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UEFA Champions League

There’s never any shortage of things to talk about when it comes to the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo made sure of that with a stunner of a goal against his former club Manchester United, and was then upstaged by the Red Devils as they took a 2-1 win in Turin, Italy. Red Star Belgrade defeated Liverpool in Sebia to throw a wrench in Group C, as if Napoli hadn’t done that already. In Group A, Atletico Madrid made up for their loss at Dortmund by winning their match against the German leaders, 2-0, in Madrid. Barcelona could not break down Inter Milan in Italy but retains the top spot after a 1-1 draw. Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid all enjoyed comfortable wins and kept the top spots in their groups.

Group A: Dortmund (9), Atletico Madrid (9), Club Brugge (4), Monaco (1)

Group B: Barcelona (10), Inter Milan (7), Tottenham (4), PSV (1)

Group C: Napoli (6), Liverpool (6), PSG (5), Red Star Belgrade (4)

Group D: Porto (10), Schalke 04 (8), Galatasaray (4), Lokomotiv Moscow (0)

Group E: Bayern Munich (10), Ajax (8), Benfica (4), AEK Athens (0)

Group F: Manchester City (9), Lyon (6), Hoffenheim (3), Shakhtar Donetsk (2)

Group G: Real Madrid (9), Roma (9), CSKA Moscow (4), Plzeň (1)

Group H: Juventus (9), Manchester United (7), Valencia (5), Young Boys (1)

UEFA Europa League

Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea continue to walk through the Europa League group stage, but other top clubs have found it difficult. A.C. Milan, for example, continues to be upstaged by Real Betis in Group F and Sevilla is finding it hard to take a stranglehold of Group J. Other hopefuls like Scottish clubs Celtic and Rangers remain in their respective group races but with little room for error.

Group A: Bayer Leverkusen (9), FC Zurich (9), Ludogorets (2), AEK Larnaca (2)

Group B: Red Bull Salzburg (12), RB Leipzig (6), Celtic (6), Rosenborg (0)

Group C: Zenit (8), Slavia Praha (7), Copenhagen (5), Bordeaux (1)

Group D: Dinamo Zagreb (12), Fenerbahce (7), Spartak Trnava (3), Anderlecht (1)

Group E: Arsenal (10), Sporting CP (7), Vorskla (3), Qarabag FK (3)

Group F: Real Betis (8), A.C. Milan (7), Olympiacos (7), Dudelange (0)

Group G: Villarreal (6), Spartak Moscow (5), Rangers (5), Rapid Wien (4)

Group H: Eintracht Frankfurt (12), Lazio (9), Marseille (1), Apollon Limassol (1)

Group I: Genk (7), Sarpsborg (5), Malmo (5), Besiktas (4)

Group J: FC Krasnodar (9), Sevilla (9), Standard Liege (6), Akhisar (0)

Group K: Astana (8), Dynamo Kiev (8), Rennes (3), Jablonec (2)

Group L: Chelsea (12), Videoton (6), PAOK (3), BATE (3)

Copa Libertadores

One of the most heated rivalries in all of soccer, with the South American championship on the line, kicked off this past weekend after weeks of anticipation. It took an extra day, as heavy rains and floods in the Buenos Aires region postponed the match from its original Saturday kickoff to Sunday afternoon. Once the first leg was underway, there was no denying the electricity as Boca Juniors took the lead with a 34th minute goal by their talisman in this edition of the Libertadores, Ramon Abila. The celebration was short lived by the home fans as River Plate’s Lucas Pratto tied the game on the ensuing kickoff. Boca were then forced to make an early change as Cristian Pavon had to leave the game due to injury. His replacement, Dario Benedetto, came off the bench and gave the home team the 2-1 lead just before halftime.

River Plate tied the match in the 61st minute thanks to a Carlos Izquierdoz own goal and the match would end in a 2-2 draw. Now, the animosity will grow back as the two teams prepare for the return leg across town on the 24th of this month. The winner will have everlasting bragging rights as this is not only the first time the historic rivals face off in a South American final but also the last in a home-and-home series - next season, the Libertadores switches to a neutral venue one match final.

Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Thursday, November 15

 

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Belgium vs. Iceland (ESPNews)

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Croatia vs. Spain (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [International Friendly] Germany vs. Russia (ESPN+)

2 p.m. - [International Friendly] England vs. USA (ESPN2/UniMás)

Friday, November 16

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Wales vs. Denmark (ESPNews)

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Netherlands vs. France (ESPN+/UniMás)

2 p.m. - [International Friendly] Brazil vs. Uruguay (beIN Sports)

6 p.m. - [International Friendly] Argentina vs. Mexico (UniMás/Univision Deportes)

6:15 p.m. - [International Friendly] Chile vs. Costa Rica (beIN Sports)

Saturday, November 17

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Italy vs. Portugal (ESPN+)

Sunday, November 18

8 a.m. - [UEFA Nations League] England vs. Croatia (ESPNews)

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Switzerland vs. Belgium (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [International Friendly] Spain vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (ESPN+)

Monday, November 19

12:30 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Iceland vs. Qatar (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Czech Republic vs. Slovakia (ESPNews)

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Germany vs. Netherlands (ESPN+)

Tuesday, November 20

1:30 p.m. - [International Friendly] Brazil vs. Cameroon (beIN Sports)

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Sweden vs. Russia (ESPNews)

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Portugal vs. Poland (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [International Friendly] Italy vs. USA (FS1/UniMás)

2 p.m. - [International Friendly] France vs. Uruguay (ESPN+)

6 p.m. - [International Friendly] Argentina vs. Mexico (UniMás/Univision Deportes)

 

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