Insider intel: All the greatest guides to the FIFA World Cup 2026 soccer spectacle across North Texas

By Rob Brinkley
Posted Thursday, Jun 11, 2026

Each Friday, Russ Anderson, the president and CEO of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty and the CEO of Pacific Sotheby's International Realty, writes about luxury, trends, business and more in the advertising pages of the Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal. Below is his letter of June 12, 2026.

FROM THE PRESIDENT'S P.O.V.

Fútbol fever has absolutely swept our cities.

ICYMI, we are the host region for the most soccer games of the most famous soccer tournament in the world. It all kicks off — sorry, I had to — this Sunday when the Netherlands and Japan take to the field in our biggest stadium in North Texas, in suburban Arlington. Our part of the tourney finishes a month later, on July 14, with one of the competition’s semi-finals.

In between, North Texas is puffing its chest in a truly global moment. From the nine tournament games all played in Arlington to the hotels, restaurants, shops and streets of our cities and towns — Dallas, Fort Worth and way beyond — we are loving the fact that the world is watching. ICYMI, too, we are the fastest-growing metro area in the entire country. Take it from the United States Census Bureau, just last month: “The top five fastest-growing cities in the nation with populations of 20,000 or more were all in Texas, with four of them clustered in the suburbs of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area.”

Believe me, there are many reasons for this — chief among them weather, business, innovation, lifestyle, luxury, tech and opportunity. My favorite reason? The people. We are attracting big thinkers and big doers by the day. That whole “big” thing is completely true about Texas — and I’m proud that our brokerage is known for its big-thinking agents who know so much about every neighborhood and nook here. Ask them anything, especially if you are visiting for the soccer games. Shops. Restaurants. Routes. They are the uncontested experts.

So, let the games begin. Plan your adventure using the guides below. And know this: North Texas has officially put the world in world-class.

Russ Anderson

President and CEO, Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

CEO, Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty

randerson@briggsfreeman.com