When you arrive in Houston, you are almost certain to be coming from one of two airports. Most I would expect would find themselves coming through George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH or Intercontinental for short) roughly 20 miles northeast of downtown, another four percent will be arriving, through William Hobby (HOU or Hobby) Airport, in South Houston outside Pasadena. The rest will be arriving, somehow, to Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR).
However you arrive here, to all of you I say, Welcome to Houston, y’all!
Upon arrival, you’re going to have several ways of getting around town. You can either take the shuttle and rent a car, take a cab/rideshare to wherever you are going, or you can walk. That’s not to say that there isn’t public transit, Houston’s Metro has an expansive network; the trouble is Houston is what scientists like to call “really, really big.”
Houston has taken the term urban sprawl and made it an art form so Metro can’t go as far as mass transit in other cities can do. Your best bet, otherwise, is to probably rent a car so you can get out to Houston Stadium; please be advised that Houston drivers can be…aggressive, so please approach with caution.
Speaking of Houston Stadium, Houston is scheduled to host five group stage games and two playoff games.
Group Stage Schedule
Group E
- Germany vs. Curacao – June 14, 2026 – Noon CDT (Central Daylight Time)
Group K
- Portugal vs. DR Congo – June 17, 2026 – Noon CDT
Group F
- Netherlands vs. Sweden – June 20, 2026 – Noon CDT
Group K
- Portugal vs. Uzbekistan – June 23, 2026 – Noon CDT
Group H
- Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia – June 26, 2026 – 7 pm CDT
Are you still looking for tickets even at this late date? Here are the cheapest current tickets still available at Houston Stadium (as of 5/26/26):
- Germany/Curacao: $622.37
- Portugal/DRC: $975.80
- Netherlands/Sweden: $793.73
- Portugal/Uzbekistan: $960.63
- Cabo Verde/Saudi Arabia: $195.16
Germany in a cakewalk over Curacao doesn’t seem like a huge shock of an outcome, but I’d still want to watch the German team play even if that was the result. The Netherlands/Sweden tilt seems like the most balanced match on Houston’s schedule, short of whatever games end up on Houston’s schedule in the playoff rounds.
Now, remember when I said you should rent a car? I still agree with that sentiment with one exception: take Metro to the stadium. They have park and ride locations where you can drop off your car and take the bus to the stadium. There’s only two but it’s still better than having to pay over $100, at best, for parking. There is also a rail line that runs from north-central Houston to the Stadium. It’s not much of a rail system, but, again, parking is going to be so much worse.
The stadium, Houston Stadium, otherwise known as Reliant Stadium during its day job, seats 72,000 people and the stadium itself is built sort of box-like so that everyone is sitting on top of the action; the result being there isn’t really a bad seat in the house. It is also, selectively, an open-roof stadium; however, throughout the World Cup, the roof will remain closed.
While not as loud as other stadiums, Houston Stadium is built so that the noise the crowd generates just crashes down on the players on the pitch. They hear every little thing.
Earlier when I said “y’all,” I mean it. Because y’all means “all y’all” and that is everything Houston lives and breathes. Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the country and you can see it from one neighborhood to the next; it’s a badge of honor, as it should be.
Food and Attractions
This diversity can be seen in Houston’s food scene, pun not intended. There are so many great places to go but I’ll set out a couple of classics.
Ninfa’s on Navigation Boulevard in East Houston. If you’ve ever eaten a single fajita in your life, you have Mama Ninfa and Ninfa’s to thank for it. Because according to legend she invented tacos al carbon, also known as fajitas, at her restaurant. The least you can do is go to her restaurant which still stands to this day, hand making flour tortillas by the dozen which you can buy to take home. Be sure to try the green sauce that comes with the chips. You will thank me for it.
You can go to Pinkerton Barbecue and get all the classics of Texas barbecue like prime Copper Creek brisket or dinosaur beef ribs or those other kinds of barbecue like glazed pork ribs and chopped pork shoulder, I guess.
If you’re looking for breakfast, Shipley Donuts, next question.
If you’re looking for the most, “It’s fine” meal, head for anything Pappas-related. I don’t mean that negatively, I mean it’s perfectly adequate, you know what you’re getting and you’re good with that. It’s a good safe place to either try out new things or retreat back to old favorites.
And as always, unless your religion prohibits it, there is nothing like a juicy Whataburger.
If you can’t get to the games, throughout the entire span of the World Cup, from June 11 to July 19, East Downtown will play host to FIFA’s Fan Festival where you can take part in a giant watch party to see who wins, who moves forward and which shocking teams get eliminated early.
If you have some time to kill between matches, my advice is to do things that require you to either be indoors or be near the water.
Because Houston is, for lack of a better term, hot. Really, stupidly hot. For the first five games, the temperatures are expected to be in the lower 90s (32-33 C) as the average high. Combine this with high levels of humidity and your best options become either do indoor things, like watch movies, or do something by the water.
One of my favorite near-water things is the Water Wall at Hines Park. It costs a little bit to get into the garage by the park. But when you get to the water wall, it really is like a waterfall, including the cooldown effect from the water running down.
Another option is to go down to Galveston. The beaches there are lovely, there’s some very nice turn of the 20th century architecture that was restored over time.
If you’re an art lover, the Menil Collection has the single largest collection of Rene Magritte’s works outside of Belgium.
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