Fans at the Sweden-Ukraine watch party at Hugh O'Connor's in Houston react after Sweden takes a 3-0 lead on Thursday, March 26, 2026.

Fans at the Sweden-Ukraine watch party at Hugh O’Connor’s in Houston react after Sweden takes a 3-0 lead on Thursday, March 26, 2026.

Peter Warren/Houston Chronicle

Thursday’s sports slate was as packed as it could get in Houston.

First-round golf action teed off starting in the morning. The Astros held Opening Day festivities in the afternoon. The Cougars headlined a Sweet 16 doubleheader at Toyota Center.

But amid these other events, and the typical flow of a March weekday, people congregated at Hugh O’Connor’s in the Marq*E Entertainment Center and Pitch 25 in EaDo for the FIFA World Cup qualification playoffs.

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Six spots remain unclaimed in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Thursday’s playoff matches marked the first of two matchdays that will end with six countries grabbing the final spots in the field.

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In the afternoon, the Consulate General of Sweden in Houston and the Consulate General of Ukraine in Houston held a watch party at Hugh O’Connor’s for the match between their two countries. The Bolivian Consulate in Houston later hosted a watch party for Bolivia-Suriname match at Pitch 25.

These gatherings weren’t just meetups to watch soccer but moments of togetherness for these communities. They also previewed what the World Cup might bring to the city this summer. One felt the geopolitical tensions of the world today quite acutely. The other featured a comeback that saw hopelessness turn into jubilation.

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The mist in the air

There’s a strong connection between the Swedish and Ukrainian consulates, said Anna Hammarlund Blixt, the Consul General of Sweden in Houston. For one, their offices are on the same floor of the same building. The Ukrainian consulate has helped its Swedish counterpart, which only set up here about six months ago, get acclimated.

But Hammarlund Blixt also said the bond is a political one as well. Sweden is supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, and that support, she said, is the country’s No. 1 foreign policy priority.

The war was on many people’s minds during their joint watch party at Hugh O’Connor’s.

“It takes place during a very sad backdrop and a serious one, and one that people don’t necessarily talk about in Houston today with everything else that’s going on,” Hammarlund Blixt said of the match. “But for Sweden, as well as for Ukraine, it’s existential.”

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Organizers strung up Sweden and Ukraine flags from one side of the bar to the other. Not everyone of the 60 or so people at the bar wore the common colors of blue and yellow but many did. Some even painted blue and yellow stripes on their cheeks. 

But even with such an important match taking place in front of them, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict lingered in the background like a mist.

“It’s like a calling; Sometimes you just sit at home and feel like you have to go there,” Yuliia Potapova said of Ukraine, her home country, which she tries to visit twice a year. “Whenever you step on the ground, you breathe in the air, you feel different.”

Potapova, 29, her 25-year-old sister Viktoriia Potapova and Solomiia Winchester sat together in a booth watching the game.

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For Winchester, 32, the national team makes her feel connected to her home. The last time she was in Ukraine was in September for her father’s funeral. He served on the front lines for a few year after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. He went back again in 2022, she said. 

“Whenever I was in school and learning history about the Second World War, I thought how could people watch games, how could people even still play games,” Winchester said. “Right now, I’m actually living through that experience. There is an act of war in Ukraine, in my home country, and I’m sitting here watching the game.”

“It’s, I would say, a bittersweet experience because as much as I’m happy to be here and to be able to see the national team playing, it’s also very sad, because I understand that the entire world keeps living its life while a lot of people in Ukraine keep dying.”

It wasn’t Ukraine’s night in Valencia, Spain, where the match took place as Sweden striker Viktor Gyökeres notched a hat trick.

A trio of siblings — Mark Rhenman, 28, and 26-year-old twins Fredrik and Karolina — watched in another booth as the last kicks of Sweden’s 3-1 victory took place.

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Sweden needs to win one more match, Tuesday against Poland, to make the World Cup. The winner of that game will then play the Netherlands on June 20 at NRG Stadium in the group stage.

Mark already has a ticket. He hopes he will be able to see Sweden.

Home in their new home

Later at Pitch 25, a group of fans watched Bolivia’s Miguel Terceros step up to take a penalty against Suriname.

Terceros, just 21 years old and with the weight of the South American country on his shoulders, started running, stutter-stepped and then went to attack the ball. He kicked it to the left of goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen. Vaessen dove to his right.

The crowd in Houston, about 25 to 30 people who were attending the watch party mixed in with other patrons at the bar, burst into cheers. 

Bolivia, down 1-0 less than 10 minutes before, now led 2-1.

“I was like 15, 16 when we qualified for the World Cup in ’93,” said Rodrigo Rieger, a Bolivian native who now lives in Toronto. “I felt the same feeling. I felt exactly the same feeling.”

That was the last time Bolivia qualified for the World Cup, also held in the U.S.

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Ruben Vargas, 35, is a project manager who helps the Bolivian consulate in a voluntary role. Wearing a green Bolivia jersey underneath his blazer, Vargas used a microphone to lead chants during the game.

The Bolivian community in Houston is small, he said. Events like this are a great way for the community to support each other and catch up.

“This opportunity just goes to show that we’re not just people that are in the United States living here, but we’re people that can support and give back to the community,” he said.

They will have another chance to do so Tuesday. That 2-1 score held, and Bolivia advanced to face Iraq with the winner earning a spot in the World Cup.

Vargas said there will be another watch party at Pitch 25. The people who go will be hoping for more joyous moments.

“I feel like I’m back in my country, just here in the United States,” Vargas said. “It’s such a great feeling.”