Since moving to Costa Rica in 1990, I have not missed a World Cup final. I’ve watched them from a bar, from a friend’s house, and from the comfort of my own home. For 2026, I planned on something different. I took the trip over the mountain to San José, ready to attend the huge public party at La Sabana Park.
It seemed the perfect way to watch the match, surrounded by thousands of enthusiastic fans in an atmosphere of pure fiesta de fútbol. When I got to San José and informed my friend Roberto of my plans, he immediately set out to change my mind. The park would be packed with rowdy drunks and screaming kids, he said, and an older dude like myself would feel alone and out of place amid the throngs.
So I didn’t go to the big party. Instead, I joined my friend at one of his favorite San José dive bars. It was a casual, unpretentious, open-air place on a narrow street in a downtown barrio, with a 12-seat bar and several tables and chairs in an area next to the bar. The crowd was an assortment of older gringos and younger Ticos, with a couple of aging hookers completing the mix.
The bar had a representative liquor selection and Stella Artois beer in addition to the domestic brands. There were two TVs above the bar, but they were not in sync. One was a few seconds ahead of the other.
The largest-screen TV was in the separate part of the restaurant. This TV, which no one watched, was about 25 to 30 seconds ahead of the ones over the bar. I sat at the bar, turned at an angle to keep an eye on play. Any time there was an exciting run, I would look to the bar TV for a quick replay.
By the time Spain scored the winning goal, many of the clients had figured out that the TV with no sound was the one that was actually live. Spain completely dominated the game, and virtually everybody in the bar was happy with the result. In my small sampling, I was surprised by how few Ticos I spoke with were for Argentina.
Only two that I knew of supported them. One was a friend of mine who was actually born in Argentina, and the other was a huge fan of Lionel Messi. I thought more people would be rooting for the Argies, as they’re part of the Americas just like Costa Rica. Instead, I heard people complain of referee favoritism in their favor, calling them names like VARgentina and ArgenFIFA.
My younger daughter, who’s half Tica, half gringo and very proudly Latina, told me that people here are against Argentina because Argentinians reject being called Latinos. They consider themselves transplanted Euros and far superior to all the mestizos and mulattos to their north.
Another person told me that in 2014, the year of Costa Rica’s great run to the final eight, Diego Maradona appeared on ESPN before the Cup. When he looked at the group that Costa Rica was in, the so-called group of death that included three former world champions, Uruguay, England and Italy, he said Costa Rica should just take a gun, put it to their head and pull the trigger.
Alas, Maradona is dead, Messi is near retirement and Argentina has been dethroned as world champions. And until 2030, it’s Vive España!
Read more of Don Mateo’s writing from his newly published ebook.
