World Cup fans gather in Chelsea for the state's only public Spanish-language watch party

The men's World Cup kicked off Thursday, bringing droves of fans out to a watch party in Chelsea for the Mexico v. South Africa game. While dozens of events are popping up around the Massachusetts, the city is hosting the only public Spanish-language watch parties in the state.

A few hundred people, some decked out in green Mexican soccer jerseys, gathered for  the first of more than 60 games to be streamed in Chelsea Square. The crowd roared as they watched Mexico scored an early goal against South Africa on a 16-foot-wide TV screen. The celebratory mood continued, as Mexico ultimately won 2-0.

Beyond the excitement around the international competition, organizers think the 39-day-long "Fiesta Fútbol" is an opportunity to turn the page on a difficult period for the largely working class, immigrant city.

"It's been a rough couple of years, with a lot of things going politically," said Omar Miranda, a co-organizer of the event who works in the city's government. "We also have been having a lot of reconstruction of our downtown, so businesses really needed this."

Miranda noted that Chelsea Square has also been the site of federal immigration arrests. Since President Trump took office for a second term, his administration has moved aggressively to crackdown on immigration and implement mass deportations.

Down the street from the square is the Chelsea Courthouse, another spot where federal immigration officers have made arrests. State Rep. Judith Garcia, who represents Chelsea and attended the first watch party, said the arrests have traumatized her community. She wants to use the World Cup watch parties to dissociate some of that trauma from the area.

"Today we're here for something else, for a game that's spurring a lot of activity," Rep. Garcia said. "Restoring a little bit the trust and the faith in our residents, right? They're all here. They're coming out. We've worked so hard on building that trust"

Organizers hope these watch parties can help put Chelsea on the map as a destination for visitors. Miranda said it's a chance for more people to discover some of the "best Central American food in all of Greater Boston."

"Residents are coming up to me every single hour to tell me 'I've never seen Chelsea Square look like this," said Charlie Giuffrida, the city's sports tourism director and Fiesta Fútbol co-organizer.

He said the World Cup is a unique opportunity to draw crowds into other upcoming city events, including youth sports tournaments and next year's women's World Cup watch parties.

"And  we can get them down to our downtown, we can support our local businesses," Giuffrida said. "All of this is synergized through sport."

Chelsea officials want to expand their upcoming watch parties to include more food trucks and local vendors on site. They're still trying to obtain permits for those businesses. For now, the main draw for attendees is being around other mostly Spanish-speaking fans.

" I really like the atmosphere and the community," said Maribel Garcia, who recently moved to the area from Texas. "It feels a little bit like home."