The Impact of Mexican Football on Cultural Identity

As the 2023 Liga MX season nears the end and we head into an international break, it is apparent that Mexican Football plays a significant role in shaping the cultural identity of Mexican-Americans in the United States. There is a connection between Mexican football, heritage and community that is imprinted on the Mexican-American fan. First, second and even third generation Mexican Americans fill up the stands at every Liga MX game hosted in the United States, as well as the games for the Mexican national team. This popular past time helps shape the identity of the Mexican American as it preserves the traditions of their forefathers. This international and multi-generational fandom brings together the Mexican-American community as fans root for the teams from their respective family’s origin. The fans of these communities come together to march the streets and celebrate the triumphs of Mexican club teams like Chivas, America, Pumas etc. in a showcase of love of heritage. Mexican football is enjoyed by many who do not even speak Spanish, or have ever visited Mexico, yet still feel an affiliation to Mexican Football that surpasses national borders and language. The significance of this cultural phenomenon is that it exhibits a facet of the Mexican American ethos that refuses to fade in the melting pot of cultures that is the United States.

Mexican American sons/daughters pay homage to their heritage as they support the teams of their mothers and fathers. They gather around their living room televisions with matching kits. They converse with one another as they go about their daily lives, commentating on the state of their team, upcoming matches, or the glory of days past. Social media is flooded by coverage and dialogue in English that delves deep into Mexican football. The English coverage of Mexican football is specifically geared towards the Mexican Americans who grew up in the United States, as they are more likely to speak English as their main language. Shows like ESPN’s Futbol Americas, or podcasts like The Mexican Soccer Show, Cantina MX, Chivas Del Norte, and many other media outlets fill the niche of English coverage of Mexican Football. The coverage of Mexican soccer in English is a testament to the impact Mexican football has over the cultural identity of Mexican-Americans. While coverage of the sport has changed languages, the love of the game remains. Mexican parents pass onto their first-generation American born children their love of the game, and the tradition continues as the first generation passes it onto the second/third generations of Mexican Americans. This generational passing of the torch is what has helped develop the popularity of the game in the United States, and is an exercise of maintaining one’s cultural heritage by a people in diaspora.

I had the opportunity to go to a Mexican National team game at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles California last year, as El Tri prepared itself for what would be their disaster of a World Cup. For those who do not know about the Mexican atmosphere at this venue, it’s a place with some of the strongest support for Mexico, competing with even major cities in Mexico. In order to make your way into the stadium, one has to walk a mile through a local golf course filled with Mexican Americans tailgating before the game. As I made the trek from my car to the stadium that night, the sense of community was plain as day by the thousands of Mexican American fans enjoying life before the match. Banda’s playing their colloquial songs as onlookers danced. The area was filled with vendors selling Mexican style foods, from dodger dogs to tacos. Other vendors sold wears and devices to take into the game. As I got closer to the stadium, I saw groups of young couples dance with one another in what can only be summed up as young love. I witnessed teenage boys drinking what might have been their first Modelo beers. There were families out in plenty, children running around with light up toys as their parents chased after them with glee, Everywhere I looked I saw a strong sense of community by the Mexican Americans in attendance. In spite of the team’s poor performance that night, the sense of heritage and community was everywhere to be seen and felt. It was in the very air of the atmosphere that night.

Mexican Football plays a substantial part in shaping the cultural identity of Mexican-Americans in the United States, because it preserves some of the cultural heritage from Mexico, and rallies the community in support of it. This phenomenon occurs in spite of language or locality, and there are no signs of it slowing down anytime soon., but instead continuing to grow.