Argentina prepared to open the World Cup against Algeria at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday night, with Lionel Messi expected to earn his 200th cap, while the tournament’s machinery turned a global superstar into the main attraction for a mass audience. Lionel Scaloni said “not only the Argentinian population but everybody — the whole planet — wants to see him play” and added, “Everybody wants to see him on the pitch, because he has an effect not only on Argentina fans but supporters all over the world.”
Messi had been dealing with a minor hamstring issue in the lead-up to the World Cup, but he looked comfortable in the rare chances reporters witnessed training. In last week’s final tuneup against Iceland at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, he came into the game as a second-half substitute, scored moments later on a penalty kick and played 20 minutes without any problems. Scaloni said, “There’s nothing negative to say. He’s always been there, and he’s essential for us. He’s going to remain that way.” Messi had not spoken publicly since the national team congregated for the World Cup about two weeks ago.
Who Gets Put on Display
The World Cup’s opening act centered on one player’s body, one federation’s hopes and one stadium’s spectacle. Messi’s expected 200th cap became part of the event’s selling point, with Scaloni describing him as essential and universally desired. The language of devotion around the pitch left little doubt about who the tournament is built to serve: the institutions that package the game, and the crowds asked to consume it.
The lead-up also showed the usual hierarchy of access. Reporters only saw Messi in rare training moments, and he had not spoken publicly since the national team gathered about two weeks ago. Even with a minor hamstring issue, the public narrative remained fixed on whether the star would be available for the show.
What People Brought With Them
Away from the stadium script, fans brought yerba mate to World Cup matches along with flags, jerseys and songs, sharing cups and straws to drink the caffeinated beverage that is ubiquitous in some South American countries. When reigning World Cup winners Argentina arrived at their hotel in Kansas City, fans were outside pouring and sharing yerba mate in gourd cups with metal bombillas, the straw that acts as a filter for the steeped leaves.
At Cafe Corazon, one of the biggest importers of yerba mate in the Midwest, a line of fans wearing sky blue-and-white striped jerseys was nearly out the door on Monday, the day before Argentina played its first match of the World Cup. Dulcinea Herrera, one of the co-owners of Cafe Corazon, said, “Our mate has been flying off the shelves.” She said, “So a lot of people have been coming in to try it. People who aren’t Argentinian want to just have that experience. And we have a lot of Argentinians coming in saying, ‘Oh, this reminds me of home.’”
That scene carried its own kind of horizontal organizing, however temporary: people sharing cups, passing around drinks, and making a social ritual outside the official tournament apparatus. The beverage moved through the crowd by hand, not by decree.
A Drink That Moves Through Borders
The beverage has spread alongside the multicultural appeal of soccer, including in the United States, where it has become a drink of choice for star athletes on the pitch and off. Among the World Cup’s most famous stars who drink it are Uruguay’s Luis Suarez and Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Messi posted a photo of himself holding a mate cup in one hand and the World Cup trophy in the other after his team won in 2022.
The drink dates back to Indigenous people and the gauchos, South American cowboys, and is sipped around the world with other nations and cultures adding different spins or flavors, said Christine Folch, a cultural anthropologist at Duke University and author of “The Book of Yerba Mate.” Folch said people in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil prefer their mate in different types of vessels and prepared in different ways, which can be a cultural identifier when fans meet up at a friendly match. She said she has a large collection of mate cups, including ones made of cow hooves and horns, alongside hand-stitched, leather-wrapped metal cups and gourds.
Folch said mate became popular in Syria and Lebanon in the early 20th century, which is why one of the main places to get the traditional dried leaves in the United States is at Middle Eastern grocery stores. In the United States, it is often sold in refrigerated cans, marketed to an American audience as a natural energy drink and mixed with fruit flavors. Some Cuban Americans drink a version of mate that is sweetened and carbonated. In Berlin, Club Mate is a popular carbonated drink that often gets mixed with alcohol. Traditionally, the leaves of the trees are smoked during preparation, so the mate can have a smoky overtone as well as a strong grassy, earthy flavor that people say makes them feel less jittery than coffee. Folch said it is pronounced like MAH-teh, not like a soccer teammate.
Folch said mate is made for social settings because traditionally people share the same cup or bring enough to share. “When somebody offers you mate and you accept, what you have done is you have stepped into a relationship. So it’s a way of bonding with people,” she said.
Sebastian Cufre and his father Rene, who was born in Argentina, drove to Kansas City from Albuquerque trying to score last-minute tickets to the match. They met other Argentina fans at Cafe Corazon and shared a cup of mate around their tables. Rene Cufre said, “It’s like something that you pass around during the games.” He said he had tried the canned American version but was not a fan. “Honestly, I don’t even consider that to be mate,” he said. “That’s like a completely different class of beverage.” Fernando Villagran, originally from Salta, Argentina, who traveled from California to cheer on Argentina’s team, said, “It’s not only a drink, but a social thing. It is about friendship.”