Japan Day Fan Event Held in Plano Ahead of 2026 World Cup Match
Ultras Nippon, FC Dallas and Dallas Beer Guardians organized the gathering in an affluent Dallas suburb that has only a couple of thousand Japanese residents. Dallas will host nine matches during the tournament.
An oversized concrete football wearing a cowboy hat stood in an open-air plaza in Plano, Texas, while a DJ played music and chants of "Nippon, Nippon" rose through the evening heat. A man in homemade cardboard armour addressed the crowd at the event named Japan Day, held as a prelude to Japan's first 2026 World Cup match against the Netherlands.
Plano is an affluent suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
The city is home to only a couple of thousand Japanese residents, and most of them appeared to be present for the gathering. Ultras Nippon, FC Dallas and the Dallas Beer Guardians jointly organized the event. Dennis McGowan, vice-president of the Dallas Beer Guardians, said the groups share a long-standing connection with Japan.
"We have friends that go over and go to FC Tokyo games all the time, and go to many other games across Japan," McGowan said. " Dallas is scheduled to host nine games during the 2026 World Cup tournament, the most of any city. McGowan said he wants local residents to recognize the depth of soccer already present in the area.
"I want local people to come out and see that beyond just the international game, we have the game here," he said. "We've got FC Dallas here, we've got the Dallas Trinity here, the women's club. " "As much as we love the game this time of year and every four years, let's go ahead and bring this energy to the local game," McGowan added.
Kenny Cooper, who played for FC Dallas in MLS, attended the event. His father, Kenny Cooper senior, emigrated from England to the United States in the 1970s to play for the Dallas Tornados. "He used to knock on doors to get people to come out to games," Cooper said.
