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USWNT become new opening attraction for Q2 Stadium

Q2 Stadium, the new 20,500-seat home of Major League Soccer (MLS) club Austin FC, will now have a U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) game as its opening event.

The first match played at the $260m (£186.5m/€214.5m) privately-financed stadium was due to be Austin FC’s MLS encounter against the San Jose Earthquakes on June 19. However, it has now been announced that the USWNT will take to Q2 Stadium on June 16 for a friendly game against Nigeria.

The match marks the debut of U.S. Soccer’s senior team in Austin as neither the USWNT nor the men’s side have previously staged a match in the Texan city. “The addition of Q2 Stadium within Austin’s sports and entertainment landscape immediately creates a new series of possibilities to invite some of the most important sporting competitions and soccer matches to our region,” Austin FC president Andy Loughnane told the American-Statesman newspaper.

“Featuring the U.S. women’s national team as the launch event for Q2 Stadium is symbolic of the new layer of possibilities, and it is what our staff and our community have been building toward.”

The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) last month named Q2 Stadium as one of the nine US stadia that will host group, quarter-final and semi-final matches in the 2021 Gold Cup.

In January, financial solutions provider Q2 acquired naming rights to the stadium as part of a multi-year deal. Q2 Stadium was designed by architecture firm Gensler and has been built by Texas-based Austin Commercial. The stadium broke ground on September 9, 2019.

Image: CONCACAF