Houston

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, with a city population of roughly 2.3 million and a metropolitan area of 7.3 million. It is the energy capital of the United States, home to the headquarters of more major oil and gas companies than any other city, alongside a substantial petrochemical and refining sector along the Gulf Coast. The city has one of the most ethnically diverse populations of any major US city, with large communities from Latin America, South Asia, and the Caribbean, reflecting decades of migration shaped by the energy industry and the city's deep port connections.

Houston is home to NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), which serves as Mission Control for all US human spaceflight. JSC managed the Apollo missions, the Space Shuttle programme, the International Space Station, and is the operational hub for the Artemis programme. The city hosts one of the world's largest medical complexes, the Texas Medical Center, and a significant aerospace and defence cluster.

For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Houston hosts matches at NRG Stadium, one of the US's largest arenas with a retractable roof and capacity of around 72,000. Amnesty International's March 2026 report identified Houston as one of three US host cities to have signed an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) collaboration agreement with local law enforcement, alongside Dallas and Miami. The report upgraded overall tournament risk to medium-to-high. No host city with an ICE agreement had published a human rights plan addressing immigration enforcement as of that date. The demographic context sharpens the issue: communities with strong ties to countries affected by US travel restrictions are well-represented in the Houston metropolitan area, meaning fans face elevated risk at matches in their own city.

NRG Stadium hosted its highest-profile fixture of the tournament on 6 July, when Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Mikel Merino's 91st-minute strike from a Ferran Torres pass, widely reported as Cristiano Ronaldo's final World Cup appearance.