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HOUSTON — For one weekend, Houston was even more orange than usual.
The Netherlands trounced Sweden 5–1 in Houston on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd wearing orange and yellow.
Though the flag of the Netherlands is red, white, and blue, the national team and its supporters wear orange because it’s the color of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau, and a symbol of Dutch independence. (King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, and Princess Ariane attended Saturday’s win.) It was easy for locals to jump on board, as the Astros, Dynamo, and Dash all have bright orange in their color schemes.
The Dutch brought their Oranje Fanwalk to Houston after doing the same march in Dallas last week. An estimated 15,000 people gathered at Rice University and followed the bright orange fan bus about two and a half miles to the Texans’ stadium, which will take on its new corporate name of Reliant Stadium when FIFA leaves town. It was a spectacle: standing in one spot, it took 10 minutes for the sea of orange to pass by. Most supporters were Dutch, but quite a few Houstonians dressed in Astros and Dynamo gear blended into the crowd.
Two Houston natives, brothers Mason and Mac, told Front Office Sports they inherited Dutch fandom from their dad, who watched the team play at the last U.S.-hosted World Cup in 1994. “He brought us over here to give us a similar experience,” Mason said from underneath a bright orange wig.
The Swedes also showed up in droves to Houston. A long line of blue and yellow spanned more than a full block to get into a pre-match Midsommar celebration at soccer bar Pitch 25 on Friday night, and on Saturday morning, between 4,000 and 6,000 supporters held an impressive march from Helix Park to the stadium. But while the crowd felt large on the ground, the Swedes were badly outnumbered once they got to the stands. Pockets of bright yellow poked out in a stadium that was otherwise predominantly highlighter orange, creating perhaps the most striking color combination of the tournament so far.
European fans in particular have descended on Texas excited to experience an Americana alternative to big cities like New York and Los Angeles. Several English fans told FOS they specifically sought out Houston—where England does not have any group stage matches—so they could experience the city.
Johan from Sweden told FOS he’s been enjoying “meat, of course, it’s in Texas,” and said the state is “a very nice place.” His son, Dennis, agreed: “It’s amazing. I love USA. And Texas!”
The biggest adjustment for European travelers was easily the weather. The Texas summer heat combined with rainstorms and thick humidity made for a sticky, sweaty atmosphere all weekend.
“We are not used to these temperatures,” said Edna from Holland.
“We’re struggling,” said Dan from England.
Fire trucks sprayed fans with water at the Fan Fest and along the supporter routes. The indoor stadium and its air conditioning provided a welcome escape from the humidity on Saturday—and a reminder of how strange the new tournament-wide hydration breaks are.
Hours before the match, the get-in price on resale sites was $1,166, about 110% higher than they were a month ago, according to Ticket Data. Between flights, roughly $430 match tickets, and an Airbnb, Edna from the Netherlands said, “It’s not cheap, but it’s once in a lifetime.”
The stadium announced a FIFA sell-out crowd of 68,777 fans. Unlike some other matches in the tournament, the official attendance seemed to be accurate, with few empty seats visible in the stands.
Immediately after the match ended, the stadium announced a shelter in place warning over the loudspeaker due to lighting in the area, with messages on the video boards. The vast majority of fans did not heed the warning, and the stands were mostly empty about 15 minutes after the final whistle, even as the directive stayed on the screens.
The win was an important one for the Netherlands after drawing 2–2 with Japan in their opening match. The team will head back to Kansas City, where it set up base camp at the KC Current’s training facility, to play Tunisia on June 25 to try to clinch the group. Sweden, which beat Tunisia 5–1 last weekend, will try to beat Japan to stay alive and advance to the knockout round. (Eight of the best 12 third-place teams will also advance.)
As for Houston, the city is roughly midway through its hosting slate of seven World Cup matches. The city will stage Portugal–Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia–Cape Verde next week before it hosts two matches in the knockout round, including a Round of 16 game on July 4.
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