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AT&T Stadium's USMNT crowd brought the energy in Copa America opener vs. Bolivia

It all started with the classic DFW sports fans yelling "Stars" during the national anthem.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Editor's note: The video above is a WFAA report from March when USA played Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League Final at AT&T Stadium.

In the words of U.S. men's national team (USMNT) midfielder Tyler Adams ... Dallas, y'all "showed out."

So much so, you made the hometown kid, Weston McKennie proud.

McKennie, who is from Little Elm, told WFAA after the game that sometimes it would be frustrating to come back to DFW, play in big stadiums and the crowd not "show out" (he's played at AT&T Stadium three times now and his current club, Juventus, played a friendly at the Cotton Bowl).

"It was amazing to play in front of friends and family," McKennie told WFAA.

I won't lie ... I went into Sunday's USMNT-Bolivia match unsure of what to expect. Just three months ago, USMNT defeated Jamaica and Mexico en route to their third straight Concacaf Nations League title. All matches were held at AT&T Stadium. 

The crowds for those matches lacked in support of the Stars and Stripes quite a bit. The official attendance of the US-Jamaica match was just over 40,000 (AT&T Stadium's capacity is 80,000), but a sizable chunk of those were Mexico fans who arrived early for the Mexico-Panama semifinal that happened right after.

The Concacaf Nations League final between Mexico and the United States drew close to 60,000, but it's not an exaggeration to say more than 80% of the crowd that night were El Tri fans -- arguably 90%.

Granted, Mexico's fan base in DFW is deeply-rooted and strong. They've always attended Mexico matches at Jerry World in droves. 

As Adams and McKennie said, however, the red, white and blue support was much stronger than it was earlier this year. The official attendance for Sunday's match against Bolivia was 47,873 -- easily approaching 40,000-45,000 USA supporters.

The energy in the building showed that there was tenfold more passionate USA fans at the game. It all started with the classic DFW sports fans yelling "Stars" during the national anthem.

Just three minutes in, USMNT captain Christian Pulisic shelved a ball in the upper-90 for the first goal of the game, and the roof blew off the place inside the AT&T Stadium. 

The crowd started a very strong wave that lasted multiple revolutions of the stadium. Vibes inside AT&T Stadium were -- some could say -- "Higher" (no, they did not play Creed, but that would have put the cherry on top of the entire night if they had).

FC Dallas product Ricardo Pepi, who was sold in the largest outbound deal in MLS history, subbed into the match in the 65th minute to a massive ovation. Within seconds, he nearly scored and the crowd's groan was deafening. Pepi had multiple other prime scoring opportunities against Bolivia, each time leaving the North Texas crowd on the edge of their seats.

After 90 minutes plus stoppage time, the US got the win everyone anticipated, and the crowd erupted into a "U-S-A" chant.

Though the USMNT will not play any of its group matches at AT&T Stadium in the World Cup, if they advance to the knockouts, there are more avenues for them to come to Arlington. I mapped out the potential knockout routes for USA, Mexico and Canada in the 2026 FIFA World Cup here.

They'll need you loud and proud, North Texas, just as you were for this match.

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