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The World Cup comes to an end Dec. 18, with a finals match between Argentina and France. Want a close-up view of the cheering and weeping? The group Argentinos en Portland is inviting everyone to their watch party at Nico’s Cantina on Northeast Cully Boulevard.
Thanks to the time difference between Portland and Qatar, the party starts at 6:45 am, but that should be no problem if the World Cup has already wrecked your sleep schedule.
Andrea Romina Boyd, a member of Argentinos en Portland, says their first watch party happened spontaneously. Most of the bars were too full, so everyone just came to her house.
“The original watch party was at my house, but then for the semifinal we wanted to make sure everyone can come,” Boyd tells WW. “We were like 30 people in my basement for the quarterfinals. We are expecting the finals to be every Argentinian that wants to come.”
France won the last World Cup, in 2018, while Argentina has not won since 1986 but has made it to the finals multiple times. With the passage of more than three decades since a win, Argentina is perhaps hungrier for it than France, especially given that their captain and star player, Lionel Messi, has said this will be his last World Cup.
While fans in Argentina are obviously excited, Boyd says there’s something special in celebrating the World Cup in Portland. “After living outside my country for so many years, being able to share the passion for soccer with my people. It brings it back and it’s more meaningful to us because we are away from our family and friends,” she says.
There don’t appear to be any watch parties by the French or Francophone community in Portland, but Boyd says France fans would nonetheless be welcome. Other spots to watch, eat, drink and be merry (or depressed) during the game include OMSI (on that big, beautiful screen in the Empirical Theater) and McMenamins’ Kennedy School Cypress Room.
Sometime in 2023, Argentinos en Portland will also host their second-ever Portland Argentinian Festival.