In-Person observations from USA-Jamaica

Went to the game last night, walked away with a few observations:

1. CONCACAF seemed like they were just winging it during the first game to be better prepared for the second match. Examples:
- no replays during the first half
- there was no clock for the first half of extra time
- announcer could barely speak English, was hard to understand
- when additional time at the end of the halves was announced the Jumbotron read “extra time” or whatever, with a space underneath for the total number of minutes that just wasn’t filled in by technical staff, so we had to rely on listening to the announcer’s heavily accented English. Deaf? Get fricked.
- there was a cringe DJ and hype man throughout the game
2. Most fans were there supporting Mexico. These tickets were sold as a double header, and with the US game being first I think this had a big impact on the lack of fans for our game. Stands were a lot more filled as our game got closer to the Mexico Panama game. That said, it seemed like there were almost as many Jamaican fans as there were US fans.
- I saw zero advertising for this game around the DFW area, and it started at peak traffic time. Tickets were expensive but there were still plenty for sale right before kickoff. I would have saved ten bucks if I had bought my tickets right before the game.
- there were a few people there wearing US jerseys with a Mexico jersey underneath for the second game. One woman I saw had a jersey split down the middle, Mexico and US
3. A lot of the Mexico and Jamaica fans were fat, more so than the American fans I would say
4. Mexico fans booed the shite out of Pulisic every time he got the ball and especially on corner kicks. Lovely group.
5. Pepi got some cheers when he came on.
6. Our Uber drivers to and from the game were both from Ghana and driving dirty, crappy cars. Arlington is gonna be an embarrassment come 2026
7. There was a video before the game and at half time warning fans not to be racist/homophobic/inappropriate. It was made to look like two announcers reviewing a VAR call showing a fan with their mouth blurred out as they were cursing. The English version looked like the person was saying “a-hole,” and the Spanish version was clearly “puto” Everyone in the video was Hispanic

Crowd during national anthems:


Crowd at kickoff:


Crowd after Haji scored his first in extra time: