Fresno fans pack Los Amigos for World Cup opener, celebrate soccer tradition

Los Amigos was packed with World Cup fans on Thursday night as Fresno soccer supporters gathered to watch Mexico face South Africa in the opening match of the tournament. The scene inside the restaurant was less like a one-time viewing party than a local ritual, built around a crowd that has returned to the same place for decades.

Owner Ricardo Flores said he has been hosting World Cup crowds for 37 years, a span that tracks with the way soccer has become part of Fresno’s civic life. Mexico’s 2-0 win at Estadio Azteca gave the party an extra jolt, but the bigger story in Fresno was the staying power of the gathering itself and the way a neighborhood restaurant has become a fixture for major soccer nights.

The tournament also arrived with political tension. Reuters reported that Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, whom FIFA had selected as a match official, was denied entry into the United States before the World Cup. Reuters also reported that the Trump administration said he was refused entry because of links to “suspected members of terror organizations.” Inside Los Amigos, fans said they wanted the tournament to stay centered on the game and the international connection it can create.

One fan said the World Cup should be a time for nations to reunite through soccer. Another wished good luck to every team and said the rest of the tournament should be about soccer, not politics. That tone fit a Fresno crowd that has long treated the World Cup as a shared public moment, especially in a county where the numbers mirror the sport’s cultural reach.

Fresno County’s population was estimated at 1,035,456 on July 1, 2025, and 55.3% of residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. The same data show 20.0% of residents are foreign-born and 43.7% speak a language other than English at home. USC Dornsife says roughly 200,000 immigrants live in Fresno County, about 22% of the population, and 66% of immigrants in the Fresno region are from Mexico. Those figures help explain why a Mexico match can draw such a strong response in Fresno.

The event also pointed to a larger soccer economy taking shape across the city. CBS47 and KSEE24 reported in 2025 that the Central Valley hosted nearly 80 youth soccer programs at the California Youth Soccer Cup, and Fresno has been in talks with the United Soccer League about bringing professional men’s and women’s teams and a new stadium. Los Amigos has been expanding too, with a 2,000-square-foot mariachi-and-folklorico-themed restaurant at Fresno Yosemite International Airport.

Flores said Los Amigos will host the rest of the World Cup games, and other Fresno spots, including Strummers, Amara, Fresno Indoor Soccer and Summer Fox Brewing Company, are also planning watch parties for later matches. For Fresno, the opener was not just a television event. It was another sign that soccer has become part of the city’s identity, its business life and its public calendar.