Unless there’s a World Cup in certain parts of Europe then it seems likely that air travel is just a necessity to get between matches these days. 48 teams and 104 matches require a lot of venues, and there aren’t many parts of the world where FIFA’s stadium requirements can be met within a compact area.
The concept of holding the World Cup across multiple countries – after this year’s Canada, USA and Mexico, the 2030 version will be Portugal, Spain and Morocco – is excellent for its feel good factor and indeed cultural interest, but it’s expensive (and complicated) logistically for anyone wanting to visit.
And so it was that we caught a morning flight from Monterrey to get to Guadalajara, which will be our base for the next six days and two matches. By road it would have been a 10-hour drive, or 13 hours in public buses, or perhaps a week walking. By plane it was an hour and 25 minutes, and we were at our hotel in Guadalajara by 11 for an early check-in.
After a rest and a coffee from the drip-filter machine in our room we headed out to the local FanFest which is literally right next door to the DoubleTree Hotel. Similar to the stadiums there is long laundry list of stuff you can’t bring in but we all survived the security screening and had a stroll around while the Belgium-Iran game was under way.
The FanFest concert after the NZ game.
The original concept of the FanFests was to provide a place where locals without tickets to a home game could have a watch party, and as a point for fans to gather to watch games in other host cities. It still essentially does this but over the years since the launch in 2006 there has been some evolution.
Football is the hook but there’s also, food, music, culture and frivolity, oh and did I mention fleecing? Don’t forget that.
Entry is free and a lot of things inside are free, such as live concerts, various games and so on. But realistically they are only free because the prices of food and beverages are exorbitant, and guess what you are absolutely not allowed to bring in to FanFest under any circumstances? That would be food and beverages. It is no picnic in the park under a big screen. It is an organised public viewing event paid for by the concession stands.
Presumably it’s also how beer and soft drink sponsors* of the tournament recoup their investment; no need for me to name them, they can do their own promotion. Interestingly the food offerings here in Guadalajara had one stand offering the local specialty, torta ahogada, which is a pork-filled roll drowned in a runny tomato salsa. But otherwise there was the usual mug’s gallery of junk food: pizza, fries, onion rings, croissants, kebabs, etc. I had a cup of fries which cost 110 Mexican pesos, about $9.
Oh and you have to pay for everything electronically as FanFest is cashless; has nothing to do with a certain worldwide credit/debit card provider being a sponsor, right? The other weird thing I noticed as we walked around was that anyone who sold any food or beverage demanded a tip. When I went to pay for my chips I was asked: “10, 15, 20%, or more?” Nope, not having that. I got away with paying just the advertised 110 pesos. She even threw in a sour look for free.
It’s probably not the place for a rant on tipping but given that every seller I observed was going through the same tips routine, it was clear that it was part of the operational model and not accidental. That made me suspicious about how much of the tip money is going to the sellers, and how much to FIFA. I shall take the question on notice, Madam Speaker.
Fans fanning at FanFest. If you look closely in the centre you’ll see a many holding a baby. Not just ‘ooligans then.
My first impressions of the central part of Guadalajara itself were positive. Some rustic charm, a little grubby here and there, but with a lovely street vibe. Quite apart from the organised shenanigans at FanFest there were plenty of locals just dancing for fun in front of the main cathedral on Sunday evening…because why not?! See featured image above.
Security was obvious and surprisingly pleasant. It does make a difference if policing is done in the right spirit. This is probably amateur psychology but I think if you expect people to behave well publicly then they tend to do so. One notable feature was some ‘human scale’ vehicles such as police electric bikes and indeed this electric Renault mini-car that made it easy for police to have a presence in fairly congested pedestrian areas.
It wants to be a divvy van when it grows up.
Here and there were street food carts, including a few things I hadn’t seen before. One was the elotes stall below. Elotes is ‘just’ steamed corn kernels which then get loaded up with a whole bunch of toppings of your choice.
Put football aside, Mexico are world corn champions.
While we wandering around the central plaza a young lad, dressed as a sage elf or some such, came over and asked Diego if he would be interviewed about the meaning of Fathers Day (which today was in Mexico). Dad filmed with YouTuber type rig on a tripod while young elf got to work. So that happened.
What would be the best gift you could receive for Fathers Day?
And the football! Spain launched the day’s proceedings with a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia that frankly could have been more. Highlights here. In the same group, Uruguay v Cape Verde finished 2-2 (highlights here) which leaves Spain sitting quite comfortably but all the other three teams will probably need a win in their last game to progress. Hence Saudi Arabia v Cape Verde and Spain v Uruguay in five days’ time should both be crackers.
Group G was also on deck, with Belgium and Iran both misfiring in a 0-0 draw. Highlights here. It feels like both teams are capable of better we just haven’t seen it yet. In the late game New Zealand took an early lead and held onto it well until a last half-hour blitz by Egypt took the game 3-1 (highlights here). The Kiwis face Belgium in their final game with both teams needing a win to advance, while a draw will be enough for Egypt against Iran.
*sponsors…it’s complicated. Apparently FIFA has ‘partners’ and ‘sponsors’ and ‘supporters’ and what the difference is between them is probably just dollar amounts. Something like the old gold, silver and bronze sponsorship tiers that used to be de rigeur. But time marches on and we can hide hierarchy with euphemisms, someone decided. Progress not progress.
Enjoy the football and have fun!
Alan Whykes is a Tasmania-based writer and an ex- too many things to list.
This blog is the start of a new section called Tas At Large which showcases stories of Tasmanian diaspora let loose upon the world.
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