Argentina’s New York fans share hopes before 2026 World Cup final

Published 18 July 2026 · sports

Argentinians in Queens hold on to football tradition, as new communities support the national team in NYC. New York City – It’s dubbed “Little Argentina”

Argentinians in Queens hold on to football tradition, as new communities support the national team in NYC. New York City – It’s dubbed “Little Argentina”, but lifelong resident Christian Gimenez says much has changed in the neighbourhood he grew up in. Once an epicentre of the Argentinian diaspora that settled in New York City, most relocating during the so-called “dirty war” of the 1970s, only a handful of Argentinian restaurants and bakeries remain as a foothold of what once was in the Elmhurst, Queens neighbourhood. 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 – from the asphalt, to the benches, to the store fronts, and even the fire plugs – bears the iconic colours. As a child, “everywhere you would go, it was Argentinian,” Gimenez, who owns Rio de la Plata Bakery and is among those who spearheaded the decorations, told Al Jazeera. “So what I do is try to keep it alive.” To be sure, the 40-year-old is clear that the commitment to Argentina’s 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.

To many, it is a reminder of the generational significance of the country’s football tradition, one that has for decades been a glue for Argentinians in New York City, even as the community has dispersed. Seventy-four-year-old Beatriz Jaime recounted watching Argentina’s 1978 routing of the Netherlands in a broadcast at Madison Square Garden, and returning to the neighbourhood soon after to find it “loaded with people” celebrating into the night. “The thing is that the roots are here, and they’re in Argentina,” said Jaime, who grew up in Queens but now lives on Long Island. “You never forget that. I get goosebumps.” 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, “Hand of God”, a reference to the infamous hand-ball goal scored by Maradona in the 1986 quarterfinal match against England. Pachaco called the block “the centre” for Argentinian fans in the city, offering a stadium atmosphere on game day – complete with a closed street, music, an outdoor television, and street food – without the price tag. 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’s doorstep, he said, represents a convergence of worlds. “It’s like bringing Argentina to New York … wherever you go, anywhere in the world, when Argentinians get together.