Three friends wearing green Mexico jerseys make their way through the stands at Southwestern College Stadium, looking for a patch of shade before kickoff in the final between Spain and Argentina.
Mexico is not playing.
And yet, it is hard to find a conversation that does not end up being about Mexico.
Among the Argentine and Spanish shirts, Mexico’s green jerseys are everywhere. Some families crossed the border from Tijuana. Others drove down from Los Angeles. A few came from as far away as Sonora or Sinaloa. Everyone is here to watch the same match, though not necessarily to support the same team.
The question comes up again and again—in concession lines, along the concourse, in conversations between strangers.
“Who are you rooting for?”
The answer is almost always preceded by a pause.
Argentina or Spain.
The hesitation has very little to do with what is about to happen on the field this afternoon.
For Mexican soccer fans, Argentina occupies a familiar place. It is the country of Maradona and Messi, but it is also the national team that has repeatedly stood in Mexico’s way at the World Cup. Defeats in 2006, 2010, and 2022 still surface in conversation with surprising ease. Mention Maxi Rodríguez, Carlos Tévez, or Messi, and someone will remember exactly where they were when they watched that game.
During this World Cup, social media once again filled with accusations of favorable officiating, debates over VAR decisions, and theories involving Argentina. Many of the arguments sounded like discussions about soccer. Some were about something else entirely.
“Argentinians think they’re Europeans,” Juan Álvarez, who lives in Imperial Beach and is originally from the Mexican state of Guerrero, says with a laugh.
The remark comes up often among Mexican fans and, imperfectly, captures a common perception. Argentina experienced one of the largest waves of European immigration in the Americas between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a process that profoundly shaped the country’s sense of itself.
“They came from the ships; we came from the Aztecs,” says Andrea Velasco, a teacher from Mexico City who traveled from Tijuana to watch the match with relatives from Los Angeles.
The line draws laughter from those standing nearby.
It also reduces a far more complicated history to a punchline.
Mexico welcomed thousands of Argentine exiles during the military dictatorship. Decades later, thousands of Argentinians moved to Mexico during successive economic crises. Today, there are binational families, friendships, and businesses that connect the two countries in ways that are both ordinary and enduring.
The conversation takes a similar turn when Spain enters the picture.
For some fans, Spain remains the country of the Conquest. For others, it is the country of grandparents, family surnames, or the Republican exiles who found refuge in Mexico after the Spanish Civil War and left a lasting mark on the country’s intellectual and cultural life.
None of that seems to find an easy resolution in the stands.
One fan in a Mexico jersey celebrates a Spanish move. A few seats away, another Mexico supporter rises to applaud an Argentine play. No one appears particularly troubled by the contradiction.
Argentina has defeated Mexico four times, a history that makes it difficult for many Mexican fans to support the South American team. (Photo: Alejandro Maciel / Times of San Diego)Perhaps because the choice has never been entirely about soccer.
When the referee blows the opening whistle, the score is still 0-0. But the debate unfolding around the stadium began long before this final and will probably continue long after the last whistle.
As the players walk onto the field, some spectators still have not made up their minds. Some cheer for Spain. Others for Argentina. Many simply want to watch a good match.
That may be the most Mexican answer of all: when neither team truly belongs to you, the choice never fully does either.
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