World Cup will let Houston’s immigrants shine
A World Cup is something else. My first memory of one is from 1986, when Argentina beat West Germany in the finals in Mexico. The streets of Buenos Aires were crowded with people celebrating, as if all their problems were gone (and we had quite a few back then). And even though during the following decades my team’s performance was — with a few exceptions — extremely errant and disappointing, every four years a new sense of hope and excitement is born, bringing me back to those childhood days.
Now our beloved Houston will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup along with 21 other cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The idea of taking my kids to a game — hopefully Argentina with Lionel Messi, if it’s not too much to ask — and enjoying the international atmosphere of the event with them has been in the back of my mind since I first heard Houston was in the running four years ago.
I was never lucky enough to attend a World Cup in person. However, the people I know who have talk about more than the matches: they rave about the parties outside the stadium, filled with fans wearing jerseys and costumes, painted faces, all of them bonding regardless of the rivalry between different nations.
Of course, this news is great on so many other levels, even for those who don’t care for soccer. There’s the money, the jobs and — as important — Houston’s chance to show itself and all the world how cosmopolitan a place it is.
With almost all the needed infrastructure and facilities, Houston is already prepared to host the teams’ matches as well as a multitude of fans drunk on (although not exclusively) soccer, willing to spend money almost irrationally. At least the European and Asian fans will, since my fellow South Americans are usually more cautious due to budgetary reasons. Sports tourism of this magnitude is a welcome boost to the local economy, especially without the risky downside of a huge investment in a new stadium.
Chris Canetti, the president of Houston’s World Cup bid committee, estimated the economic impact of being a host city at upward of $1 billion. “It would be like hosting six Super Bowls in a very short time period,” he stated. That means jobs, and according to Hany Khalil, executive director of the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, Houston’s bid committee “has made commitments to adopt effective mechanisms that will ensure the jobs created are good jobs accessible to local residents and disadvantaged individuals.”
The AFL-CIO is also promoting worker rights in the 2026 World Cup to prevent low-wage dangerous jobs, worker deaths, community displacement and corruption, many issues which we’ve unfortunately seen in previous editions of the tournament throughout the decades. The latest example is Qatar: more than 6,500 migrant workers have died there since the country was awarded with hosting this year’s edition. Although you can’t blame the World Cup directly for this tragedy — a conservative estimate, by the way — the tournament should not be awarded to a country that treats workers with such disregard. To make things worse, FIFA’s response was lukewarm at best. The bar is low and Houston should be prepared to make the protection of human rights a priority.
The World Cup will be Houston’s time to shine, to shake off some outdated clichesand show the world our restaurant scene, museums, nightlife and parks.
Most important of all, the World Cup is an opportunity to show off our people.
As I mentioned, a World Cup is not only about the games and the soccer. It is also about the fans attending and the energy they share and disperse. That’s an essential part of any party, in particular a massive one like this one. To understand my point, recall the 1994 U.S. World Cup, a tournament that almost 30 years later, and perhaps unfairly, still evokes mediocrity or oblivion. Not bad at the soccer level, it nonetheless lacked energy and excitement, showing that what happens outside the stadium matters as much as the game. The 2026 edition will find a more fertile soil as Americans today are more receptive to the game, thanks in part to the seed of 1994 and — no less — to the fame of the unrivaled U.S. women’s team. My personal bet in this sense is that Houston is destined to have a prominent role in the future of American soccer, being the immigrant melting pot it is — or salad bowl or whatever you’d like to call it. And I’m hoping that 2026 will mark the beginning of a golden era. Indeed, starting with a great hosting job by us.
Hosting a World Cup is a gift. A welldeserved gift for a lot of Houstonians. Not the kind of Houstonian other Americans may imagine living here, but Houstonians nonetheless.
North, Central and South Americans, Africans, Middle Easterners, Asians and, lately, Ukrainians, with or without papers, some with PhDs, others speaking a broken English, will be able to re-experience the thrill of a soccer match, the energy of a crowded stadium cheering for their national team, just like they might have once done, supporting local teams in their countries. I know tickets are expensive and hard to get, but I am sure that for those unable to buy them even the parties around the stadium or the chance of a picture with their idol will bring a taste of a discontinued ritual and, maybe, will make Houston a bit more like home.
Sports tourism of this magnitude is a welcomed boost to the local economy, especially without the risky downside of a huge investments.