{"id":349603,"date":"2026-06-25T06:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T06:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/349603\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T06:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T06:46:32","slug":"mexico-fans-show-up-in-huge-numbers-in-austin-for-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/349603\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico fans show up in huge numbers in Austin for World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of fans have packed Austin venues and bars to watch Mexico’s national soccer team secure victories against South Africa and South Korea during its first two 2026 FIFA World Cup matches. Now, fans are preparing to root for Mexico again during its game against Czechia on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Austin is home to a large Mexican American community, and support for the Mexican national soccer team was especially strong at Auditorium Shores, where roughly 5,000 people attended the watch party hosted by Austin FC for Mexico\u2019s first match.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a celebration that welcomes people of various nationalities and countries, it does not matter where you are from or what country you represent,\u201d Jonathan Rios said in Spanish about the high turnout for the game against South Africa. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tomas Correa dances during the half-time show at Auditorium Shores during the watch party.<\/p>\n

Rios, who attended the watch party with his young son, said that despite being Colombian, he was cheering for Mexico out of appreciation for its culture and to support his Mexican friends. He said he hopes this year\u2019s World Cup inspires greater interest in soccer across the United States, similar to the passion the sport generates throughout Latin America.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially given the number of Latinos here who love soccer \u2014 or f\u00fatbol, as we call it in our countries \u2014 it really should be more popular and receive more backing and support so that it can gain much more recognition here in the United States,\u201d Rios said in Spanish.<\/p>\n

The World Cup has three different host countries this year for the first time in its history \u2014 Mexico, the United States and Canada \u2014 with 75% of the matches being held across the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

World Cup fans gathered at Auditorium Shores during Austin FC\u2019s watch party for the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on June 11.<\/p>\n

Mariano Esquivel, a Mexico fan \u201csince birth,\u201d said he is not a fan of the World Cup being hosted in three countries, especially given how expensive tickets are, but he appreciates how watch parties allow the community to come together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a bad idea because not everyone has the means to travel that much, the distances are huge. For instance, if you\u2019re at a match in Mexico City and have to go all the way to Canada, it\u2019s an all-day journey,\u201d Esquivel said in Spanish. \u201cIt\u2019s not very convenient, but that is what FIFA decided.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 97 minutes, two goals and three red cards later, Mexico secured its first-ever victory in a World Cup opening match, defeating South Africa 2-0. Although excited about the win, fans said they are aware of the long road Mexico faces for a World Cup victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be something unimaginable, and we would be happy for many, many years,\u201d Dominic Rojo said in Spanish. \u201cI am realistic, and I think we will hopefully be at least top seven.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Kamila Chavez (left) and Brenda Esparza (right) celebrate during the watch party.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Aracely Santiago, originally from Mexico, said she is rooting for Mexico but thinks Portugal or Spain is the frontrunner for the World Cup trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be super cool, it would be incredible, but I do see it as difficult because the big names are still on the other teams,\u201d Santiago said in Spanish. \u201cStatistically, I think there\u2019s a 1% chance [Mexico will] win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerardo Echeverria, however, said he thinks the chances of Mexico winning on a scale of 1-10 are 10. He said that although he is from a small town in Texas, his Mexican parents instilled their love for Mexico’s team in him from a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy blood bleeds Mexico,\u201d Echeverria said. \u201cI hope that my dad gets a win [and] gets to be able to see Mexico be their best, the only reason why I\u2019m into soccer is because of my father.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mexico defeated South Korea 1-0 on Thursday, securing a spot in the next round and moving one step closer to a World Cup trophy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of fans have packed Austin venues and bars to watch Mexico’s national soccer team secure victories against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,135,134,133,37274,18957,13724,119037,1468,731,3692,124636],"class_list":["post-349603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-fc","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-futbol","tag-mexican-national-team","tag-mexico","tag-soccer","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-watch-parties"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}