HOUSTON — The clock is ticking, we're now just two years away from the biggest sporting event in the world coming to Houston.
That’s right, we’re talking about the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"This is going to be an economic boom for Houston and our region unlike anything we have ever seen," Bishop James Dixon II, with the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, said.
From Super Bowls to Final Fours, we all know Houston is experienced when it comes to putting on large-scale events, but even our city officials said the World Cup is going to be one for the history books given the scale and economic impact it’ll bring.
The excitement is building.
"We couldn't be more excited, this is going to be the largest sporting event in the history of the world and Houston has the privilege and honor to be one of 16 host cities here in North America to give this experience back to our citizens," President of the Houston 2026 World Cup Host Committee Chris Canetti said.
Earlier this month, we learned seven games will be played at NRG Stadium, including five group-stage matches and two knockout matches. To put that into perspective: "This event will be like hosting seven Super Bowls in 20 days," Dixon said.
Officials said over five weeks, the economic impact is set to be north of $1 billion.
"Houston welcomes the world," Dixon said.
On Friday, the people in charge of making sure the event goes smoothly provided details on what comes next.
"2024 is going to be a very critical year in the planning process basically what people can look for is a lot of details being finalized over the course of this year, and then 2025 and half of 2026 as an execution period to get everything done," Canetti said.
Some of the details being discussed include the security measures that will be put in place, determining where the fan fest will be held, and the kinds of renovation that will need to be done to be World Cup ready, including the stadium being converted to a grass pitch, a process that's set to begin May 1, 2026.
"We're going to have one of the greatest grass fields that you can have, this is a requirement for FIFA World Cup," Canetti said. "It's going to be a process that takes about a month to put in and we'll give it a little bit of time to settle and be ready for our first match on June 14, 2026."
Officials said NRG is already in good shape, so significant changes won't have to be made.
Some upgrades that are coming? The stadium will get new chillers, the lighting will be changed to LED, parking lots will be resurfaced and more, making sure the stage is set for the seven matches that will be played in Houston.
"We’re ready for it, we’re prepared for it, we do have the best team in the industry, I’m convinced of that, and that’s evidenced by the many great events the world cups, the CFP’s, the final four’s, the super bowls we continue to get at NRG Park," Ryan Walsh, with the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, said.
As for which team and countries will play here at NRG Stadium, the target date for that announcement is sometime in December of 2026.