{"id":299337,"date":"2026-07-18T09:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T09:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/299337\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T09:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T09:44:09","slug":"argentinas-new-york-fans-share-hopes-before-2026-world-cup-final-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/299337\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina\u2019s New York fans share hopes before 2026 World Cup final | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City \u2013 It\u2019s dubbed \u201cLittle Argentina\u201d, but lifelong resident Christian Gimenez says much has changed in the neighbourhood he grew up in.<\/p>\n

Once an epicentre of the Argentinian diaspora that settled in New York City, most relocating during the so-called \u201cdirty war<\/a>\u201d of the 1970s, only a handful of Argentinian restaurants and bakeries remain as a foothold of what once was in the Elmhurst, Queens neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

But when the FIFA World Cup comes around, the block swells with revellers, clad in white and sky blue. With Argentina heading to the final against Spain on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just a few kilometres (miles) away, everything on the block \u2013 from the asphalt, to the benches, to the store fronts, and even the fire plugs \u2013 bears the iconic colours.<\/p>\n

As a child, \u201ceverywhere you would go, it was Argentinian,\u201d Gimenez, who owns Rio de la Plata Bakery and is among those who spearheaded the decorations, told Al Jazeera. \u201cSo what I do is try to keep it alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChristianChristian Gimenez in the Little Argentina area of Queens, NY [Joseph Stepansky\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n

To be sure, the 40-year-old is clear that the commitment to Argentina\u2019s national team goes far beyond the monthlong tournament. The World Cup may come only once every four years, but the vaunting mural of Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona on the side of his bakery is a mainstay.<\/p>\n

To many, it is a reminder of the generational significance of the country\u2019s football tradition, one that has for decades been a glue for Argentinians in New York City, even as the community has dispersed.<\/p>\n

Seventy-four-year-old Beatriz Jaime recounted watching Argentina\u2019s 1978 routing of the Netherlands in a broadcast at Madison Square Garden, and returning to the neighbourhood soon after to find it \u201cloaded with people\u201d celebrating into the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing is that the roots are here, and they\u2019re in Argentina,\u201d said Jaime, who grew up in Queens but now lives on Long Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never forget that. I get goosebumps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA shop sells Argentina gear in Little Argentina [Joseph Stepansky\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n

For Henry Pachaco, 45, who is also from Queens, fandom is a family affair. He stood clad in the national team jersey, his mother wearing a blue shirt with a single phrase, \u201cHand of God\u201d, a reference to the infamous hand-ball goal scored by Maradona in the 1986 quarterfinal match against England.<\/p>\n

Pachaco called the block \u201cthe centre\u201d for Argentinian fans in the city, offering a stadium atmosphere on game day \u2013 complete with a closed street, music, an outdoor television, and street food \u2013 without the price tag.<\/p>\n

For Argentina to be in the final, for Messi to possibly be playing in his last national team match, and for all of it to be happening on New York\u2019s doorstep, he said, represents a convergence of worlds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like bringing Argentina to New York \u2026 wherever you go, anywhere in the world, when Argentinians get together. That that same passion is equal, no matter what.<\/p>\n

\"AA crosswalk is painted in the colours of Argentina in Queens, NY [Joseph Stepansky\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always gonna be accepted here and have the best time of your life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gimenez echoed the sentiment, while addressing several racist incidents from Argentinian fans that have tarnished La Albiceleste\u2019s run in this World Cup and the last. He said that was not representative of the fan base.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever your race or whatever your ethnic background is, we don\u2019t look into that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re supporting us, we love you. Straight up, just like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new fandom grows in Brooklyn<\/p>\n

It is a message that is likely to be well received a borough away, in the Kensington neighbourhood of Brooklyn, home to an rapid-growing Bangladeshi community that has earned the area the title \u201cLittle Bangladesh\u201d.<\/p>\n

NYC data shows the diaspora population has tripled in the last two decades, one of the fastest-growing groups in an ever-changing city. Last year, the community elected the first-ever Bangladeshi American to the NYC Council.<\/p>\n

Shafiqul Alam, 66, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 36 years, said the area has transformed, bringing with it a passionate new base of support for Argentina\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n

On match days, large-screen televisions have been set up in pedestrian squares in the neighbourhood. If the weather turns, he said, it is not uncommon for people to crowd inside his shop to watch on his own television.<\/p>\n

\u201cBangladeshi people love Argentina,\u201d he said, \u201cand Argentina loves Bangladesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ShafiqulShafiqul Alam says his shop in Brooklyn becomes an impromptu watch party for Bangladeshi fans of Argentina [Joseph Stepansky\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n

Many factors have coalesced<\/a> to fuel support for Argentina within South Asia, and particularly Bangladesh, notably a newfound access to televisions in the 1980s, which aligned with the Maradona-led national team\u2019s 1986 defeat of England.<\/p>\n

The match held potent political significance for countries still grappling with the legacy of British colonialism. But for many younger fans, support comes down to one man: Messi.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing this could be Messi\u2019s last match, everyone will want to watch,\u201d said Sajid Bhuyan, 31, a resident of the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

He had trouble imagining that any less than 90 percent of the local Bangladeshi community in Kensington backed Argentina.<\/p>\n

\"ArgentinaArgentina fan Sajid Bhuyan sits on an NYPD barrier in Kensington [Joseph Stepansky\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n

While the origin stories of their fandom may be different, Bhuyan felt the passion from Little Bangladesh to Little Argentina was the same.<\/p>\n

He recounted a tournament that has repeatedly seen Argentina come back from the brink of defeat, most recently in a stunning turnaround in the semifinal against England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost died when Argentina scored the two goals in just minutes,\u201d Bhuyan said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t breathe, I couldn\u2019t talk, I had to take five or six minutes to calm down.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if it happens again,\u201d he said, \u201cwe will enjoy!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City \u2013 It\u2019s dubbed \u201cLittle Argentina\u201d, but lifelong resident Christian Gimenez says much has changed in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14414,5886,11979,34201,9,24,55,54,12,56,2208,4875,901,2272,33009],"class_list":["post-299337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-argentina","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-latin-america","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-news","tag-ny","tag-spain","tag-sport","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}