{"id":7975,"date":"2026-07-19T19:36:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/19\/nyc-swells-with-spanish-argentinian-fans-anticipating-world-cup-glory\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T19:36:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:36:58","slug":"nyc-swells-with-spanish-argentinian-fans-anticipating-world-cup-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/19\/nyc-swells-with-spanish-argentinian-fans-anticipating-world-cup-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC swells with Spanish, Argentinian fans anticipating World Cup glory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New York, United States \u2013<\/strong> Bleary-eyed fans began gathering from the early hours of Sunday morning in Midtown Manhattan \u2014 and across the wider city \u2014 ahead of the FIFA World Cup final<\/a> between Argentina and Spain.<\/p>\n

Banging drums, linking arms and breaking into spontaneous chants, fans expressed hope, and some nerves, that their teams would give them a reason to party into the night.<\/p>\n

Nicolas Oliver, 21, a Spanish citizen currently living in Quebec, said he was \u201cfeeling good\u201d ahead of the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I really hope that we win today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time we won, I was five years old,\u201d he said, referring to 2010. \u201cI remember perfectly that day. I would really like to feel that same sensation \u2014 everyone joined, and we put aside all those differences that we have and lived together without problems, for one day at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very far away from home. And being here with a lot of Spanish people, it feels like home again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fan
Fan Nicolas Oliver visits New York for the first time for the FIFA World Cup 2026 final [Joe Stepansky\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seventeen-year-old Argentina fan Mohamed Zidan, who is originally from Hama, Syria, but lives in Springfield, Massachusetts, decided to make a whirlwind trip to NYC for the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just got here six hours ago. This is my first time in New York. We\u2019re going to walk around and eat. The city\u2019s too big!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited. We\u2019re gonna watch and go to Times Square to celebrate with the fans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Paola Belmonta, 23, who is from southern Spain, is also experiencing the city for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really good but really stressful,\u201d said Belmonta, who is currently living in Virginia for the summer.<\/p>\n

She was confident her favourite player, 23-year-old midfielder Pedro, would carry the team to victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpain is going to take this!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Fifty-year-old Alex Roma, who is originally from Argentina but has lived in Washington, DC, for 20 years, wasn\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpain is not an easy team, but neither is Argentina,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe showed a lot of heart in the last few minutes,\u201d Roma noted. \u201cTo the last breath, we\u2019re gonna fight and try to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he didn\u2019t expect to be here this time around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect [Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi] to play at this level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was just going to do the relaxed thing, play a few minutes in the second half. But he\u2019s been amazing. He\u2019s showing that he\u2019s the best player in this World Cup at 39 years old, and that\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NEW
Fans of Argentina show support for their team\u2019s football star Lionel Messi ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 final match against Spain, in New York City\u2019s Times Square on July 18, 2026 [Carl Recine\/Getty Images\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The World Cup belongs to New Yorkers\u2019<\/h2>\n

The tournament, held across three countries, has also offered an opportunity for New York City\u2019s Mayor Zohran Mamdani to display his progressive, populist messaging on an international stage. It was a role he appeared to relish.<\/p>\n

In a city already ebullient following the New York Knicks\u2019 National Basketball Association championship, the democratic socialist and first Muslim mayor of New York vowed a World Cup that prioritised accessibility for locals.<\/p>\n

That included access to reduced-price tickets<\/a>, deals with local restaurants to offer low-price meals, and ubiquitous public watch parties in all five boroughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said from the beginning that the World Cup belongs to New Yorkers,\u201d said Mamdani, who has popped up at watch parties across the city, including at the Rikers Island jail during the Argentina-England semifinal match.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the most international city on earth, you didn\u2019t need thousands of dollars to be part of the world\u2019s game,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n

The emphasis on inclusivity among New York\u2019s staggeringly diverse population \u2014 where at least 700 distinct languages are spoken \u2014 offered yet another counterpoint to the at-times caustic<\/a> messaging of the administration of US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s hardline immigration policies made travel for citizens of some countries difficult, or impossible<\/a>. Even officials and team support staff weren\u2019t spared, with Somali referee Omar Artan denied entry to the country.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s restrictions on Iran\u2019s national team, which saw their base camp relocated to Mexico and granted them only brief stays in the US for their matches, have also attracted the ire of some fans.<\/p>\n

Trump arrived in New York City on Friday, appearing alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino at his Trump Tower in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Both he and Mamdani were set to attend Sunday\u2019s final at the New York New Jersey Stadium, renamed from MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey near New York.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York, United States \u2013 Bleary-eyed fans began gathering from the early hours of Sunday morning in Midtown Manhattan \u2014 and across the wider city \u2014 ahead of the FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. Banging drums, linking arms and breaking into spontaneous chants, fans expressed hope, and some nerves, that their teams … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}