As soon as Lauren Boyer heard there was going to be a free World Cup final watch party in Pilsen, she knew she had to be there. And all of her friends did too.
They were among dozens of soccer fans gathered at Harrison Park Sunday afternoon to watch the game, cheering and covering their mouths during tense moments. Some even raised their own red and yellow cards — paint samples from a nearby chain hardware store — the few times the stream cut out or when they disagreed with officials.
While the game ended in tears for Boyer, who was donning a Lionel Messi jersey — Spain defeated Argentina, expanding its undefeated streak to 38 and continuing an unchallenged run that has been ongoing since early 2024 — there was some joy. She was happy she got to watch the game along with her neighbors and kick a ball around with strangers even if it meant seeing one of the sport’s biggest legends end what’s likely his last World Cup on a loss.
“Soccer is a lot about community and coming together,” Boyer said. “I don’t think we got enough of it during the cup.”
“And you get to meet your neighbors,” said Christopher King, Boyer’s friend and a 33-year-old Beverly resident.
Spain’s World Cup win is its first since 2010 — the last time they faced longtime teammate Messi.
That was the first World Cup Jose Diaz, now a 27-year-old Garfield Ridge resident, watched as a kid. He played soccer growing up, but that tournament cemented his love of the game.
He’s been dedicated to watching every World Cup since. In 2022, he’d watch on his phone at work or even use his time off to catch a game.
Diaz was rooting for Spain — the team’s 2010 victory inspired his love for the game — but he didn’t have a Spain jersey, so he settled on one depicting iconic Argentinian player Diego Maradona instead.
“It’s only every four years, gotta make it count,” Diaz said.
Dalia Marquez, a lifelong Pilsen resident, sat under an umbrella next to her niece and “traitor” husband, whose Messi shirt earned him the dig.
She usually stops watching the tournament once Mexico gets knocked out, as the games serve as an excuse to host family and friends. But this year, her students convinced her to keep watching.
“It gives me a chance to connect with them,” Marquez said. “I’m just here to enjoy the game.”
Alongside the game were food trucks and people kicking around soccer balls, as well as retired MLS all star Mike Magee and Omar Gonzalez, former MLS Defender of the Year and assistant coach with the Chicago Fire FC reserve team. Gonzalez, a Lamine Yamal fan, said he had been rooting for Spain ever since the United States and Mexico were eliminated.
He said watching a sporting event is inherently a community event, one he had previously enjoyed with family and teammates, so he hopes to see Chicago create more spaces where youth can gather and engage in sports whether by watching or playing.
“I think soccer is very similar to music in that it just brings people of all cultures together,” Gonzalez said. “Every World Cup you remember where you were and who you were with. … We just want to keep creating more soccer communities in the area.”
Hailey Losselyong pointed to New York City’s “Open Play” program that kept five fields in the city set up for seven-on-seven pickup games open 24 hours, seven days a week, and said she hopes to see more programs like that in Chicago. Even just setting up existing fields in parks like where the watch party was held would be helpful, in addition to more watch parties, she said.
“We need more soccer fields,” Losselyong, a midfield or striker player in a local pickup league, said. “People crave community, and they crave community around sports. It’s a safe space people can look for, so creating more spaces like that are intentional would be amazing. … Enhancing existing resources would be helpful for everyone.”
