Thousands of England and Croatia fans painted Arlington red, white and blue Wednesday afternoon as they gathered at Dallas Stadium for North Texas' second World Cup match.
In the first match of the tournament for both countries, England defeated Croatia 4-2.
Fans hailing from around the world donned their country’s colors and arrived hours early to drink, cheer and celebrate the occasion outside the stadium.
Croatian fan David Glauas said he is visiting the United States for the first time to watch the tournament. Several Croatian fans, including Glauas, said they have tickets to all three Croatia games scheduled in the tournament — with the other two taking place in Toronto and Philadelphia.
"I love my country to the death,” Glauas said. “It's my country, and to represent my country and be here and experience this in this age, it is breathtaking, unbelievable, just unbelievable.”
Croatian fans frequently burst out into traditional chants ahead of the match, waving their red and white checkered flag.
Glauas said he has enjoyed exploring Dallas while in town for the match and said he tried the best pork ribs he has ever had at Terry Black’s Barbeque.
"Dallas, it has what we want to see. Pickup trucks, barbecues, cowboys, country music, that's what we want to see in America," he said.
England fan Kit Forrest traveled from Newcastle, England with five friends to watch the match at Dallas Stadium - as AT&T Stadium is known for the duration of the tournament per FIFA guidelines. He said his group plans to travel across the country to watch England’s matches over the next three weeks.
"I've had the countdown on my phone for two years,” he said. "(It’s) amazing. Just brilliant. It’s everything I thought it would be, so it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. There's nothing not the like."
Arlington will host seven more World Cup matches over the next month, including a semifinal. After today’s win, England’s next match will be against Ghana on June 23 in Boston. Croatia will play Panama in Toronto the same day.
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