Mexico fans gather in the Mission for World Cup kickoff — and Mayor Lurie drops in

The FIFA World Cup kicked off its first game in Mexico City at the Estadio Azteca on Thursday, with home team Mexico facing off against former World Cup hosts, South Africa.

David Venegas, originally from Jalisco, Mexico, watched it from a table at the Napper Tandy. At noon today, the Irish pub was packed, and the sound of the crowd cheering most definitely exceeded the legal decibel levels for the city (in the best way possible). 

“Every four years we wait for this,” Venegas said. “All my life I’ve been playing soccer. It’s in my family. I go to Mexico a lot, so soccer’s in my blood, and it’s super important to me.”

Many Mexican-Americans who had come to watch the game said that they wished they could have attended the match in person — but ticket prices cost anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 for the ceremonial kick-off. 

Moosa Ahmed, a SoMa resident and Team USA supporter, couldn’t make an in-person viewing happen. “So I had half of my mind on going to Mexico, but then the other half was to just go to the Mission, so now I’m here,” he said. 

“I feel bad that the prices are really high for tickets and hotels, but hey, I’m watching it on TV. And I love that it’s in our time zone, so we can watch games all day long,” said Sixto Ponce, a muay thai coach who came to the Mission from Oakland. 

And just before halftime, the crowd at the Napper Tandy got a VIP: Mayor Daniel Lurie walked in wearing a shirt and tie, no easy feat considering the blistering heat. 

“This is an event that brings people together. That is so rare and so needed in the world that we live in today. Thirty-nine days where everybody can collectively share in something is pretty amazing,” Lurie said, adding that he’d attended a few previous World Cups himself, and was a soccer fan. “Walking into this and seeing all of these Team Mexico fans is just invigorating.” 

Outside, fans bearing Mexico flags and jerseys could be seen all over the Mission District. Inside, bars were so filled that crowds spilled out into the street. “Finding a good spot,” meant standing without elbowing someone’s kidney.

Soccer fans battled the heat with beer. Or whatever was left of it by the time the harried bartenders reached them in the pub’s hard-to-reach corners and crevices. The most experienced customers practiced the triple-handed beer technique. Buckets of beer on ice were passed around.

The atmosphere was pleasant and people were happy, especially after Mexico won by two. Expensive tickets aside, it was also hard to ignore the recent issues plaguing some players’ recent arrivals into the United States. 

Aymen Hussein, Iraq’s star player, and the Iraq team photographer were both detained and questioned by Customs and Border Patrol for seven hours at Chicago O’Hare airport upon their arrival into the country.

Omar Artan, who was named referee of the year by the African Football Federation, was set to be the first Somali referee to officiate a world cup. He was denied entry into the United States due to “vetting concerns.”

“In Mexico, when South Korea came, they had a mariachi band waiting. They were eating tacos out there, having fun. And out here, they weren’t letting teams get into the country,” Venegas said. “It’s sad because the whole world’s seeing it. It was already embarrassing enough to be an American.”