The United States-Mexico soccer rivalry has attracted scholars from economics, anthropology, history, and cultural studies. Each discipline finds something different when analyzing the various elements that surround this matchup. My essay will examine three scholarly works that approach the rivalry and its significance in their own ways. Steven Apostolov’s institutional and economic published in Soccer & Society (2018), Tim Wallace’s anthropological study of Hispanic immigrant soccer communities in North Carolina published in NAPA Bulletin (2009), and Juan Javier Pescador’s cultural history of Mexican fan communities in the United States, published as a chapter in Perspectives on the U.S.–Mexico Soccer Rivalry (2017). Instead of pitting the arguments of three works against one another, taking them together illuminates three separate yet interconnected sides of the rivalry. Apostolov describes the economic and political forces that have shaped this rivalry into what it is today. Wallace’s focus on the grassroots level emphasizes the cultural importance of soccer amongst the Hispanic community in the United States. Pescador examines how Mexican fans use their match with the United States as a platform to express their culture and political opinions. These three sources provide essential, unique perspectives on this rivalry, ranging from the institutional level to individual identity.
In my project, I investigate how the US–Mexico soccer rivalry has become one of the most prominent sites of public political and cultural tensions between citizens of these bordering nations. None of these sources provides a clear, concise answer to my question on its own. When read together, they provide the tools to help answer it.
Steven Apostolov traces the historical, geopolitical, and economic dimensions of the US–Mexico soccer rivalry from its origin in 1934 through the contemporary era. Apostolov is a scholar at Mercy College’s School of Business, and his work is published in the peer-reviewed journal Soccer & Society. His central argument in this work is that the rivalry grew not only from competition on the field but also from political and economic motivations. (Apostolov 2018, 1). CONCACAF’s institutional transformation under Jack Warner and Blazer made these two teams financially interdependent. Apostolov draws on a wide range of sources to support his argument. (Apostolov 2018, 8-9). He draws on archival sources from the National Soccer Hall of Fame, oral history interviews with figures such as former US international John Souza and former Mexican national team legend and coach Hugo Sanchez. (Apostolov 2018, 5, 12). Unlike Tim Wallace in “The Soccer Wars,” who focuses on a ground-level examination of the rivalry dynamic in North Carolina, Apostolov examines the broader institutional and economic forces that shape the rivalry at the national and organizational levels. For my project in particular, this article will help me examine the overall structure of this rivalry as it extends beyond soccer. It will help me further my understanding of the economic and political factors that have shaped and will continue to shape this rivalry.
Tim Wallace examines how Hispanic immigrants in the Research Triangle in North Carolina use soccer to build community and how anti-immigrant rhetoric and the post-2008 economic downturn complicate their adaptation to American culture. Wallace is an anthropologist at North Carolina State University with decades of experience working in Latin America. His authority here comes from nearly eight years of participant observation as the president of La Liga de Raleigh, a nonprofit Hispanic soccer league he helped found and administer. (Wallace 2009, 64). The central argument is that soccer can serve as a space where Hispanic immigrants and non-Hispanic Americans can meet on common ground and integrate. However, discrimination has undermined the sport’s unique ability to unite people. (Wallace 2009, 74-76). His evidence comes from his own lived experiences around soccer and the Hispanic community rather than quantitative or archival sources. What makes Wallace’s work different from others I have read, such as Apostolov, is his focus on the grassroots level. He reveals how the US-Mexico soccer divide plays out in the daily lives of immigrant communities. This work will be essential to my own work, as it provides a crucial framework for understanding the role of soccer in questions of belonging, national identity, and cultural conflict.
Juan Javier Pescador’s chapter examines the evolution of Mexican soccer in the United States from 1970 to 2012. He traces the transformation of the Mexican national team into a multinational brand. He analyzes how Mexican fans in the U.S. use sports spectatorship as a form of cultural resistance and a means of asserting their identity. Pescador is a historian at Michigan State University, where he specializes in American sports history. Throughout his work, he makes two key arguments. First, the Mexican national team has become a commercialized brand in the United States. (Pescador 2017, 244). Second, Mexican fans use this brand to express and produce counter-representations of Mexican identity that challenge dominant media stereotypes of Mexicans. (Pescador 2017, 260). His evidence is largely historical and observational, tracing Mexican soccer leagues from the 1930s onward and analyzing how objects such as lucha libre masks serve as visual symbols of cultural resistance. This paper differs from other works I have read in that it examines the Mexican national team’s brand from a broader perspective, rather than focusing on individual aspects of the fans. Pescador’s work is critical to my research, as it offers insight into how Mexican fans use soccer to express their cultural identity and combat harmful stereotypes, especially in the United States.
This rivalry between the United States and Mexico represents so much more than just a game. The political, economic, cultural, and social factors surrounding this matchup make it one of the most charged rivalries in any sport worldwide. Apostolev’s piece introduces the history and economic importance of this matchup. Wallace’s work highlights the emotional ties that Hispanic populations in the United States have to soccer and how they use it to build and integrate into local communities. Pescador’s historical analysis reveals how Mexican fans have used this game to showcase their culture and identity to millions of viewers worldwide. Although each of these works comes from a different discipline and makes a different argument, they converge on a single conclusion. For the players, fans, and communities involved, this rivalry has never been just about soccer.
Sources
Apostolov, Steven. “USA vs. Mexico: History, Geopolitics and Economics of One of the World’s Oldest Rivalries in Soccer.” Soccer & Society 19, no. 5–6 (2018): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2017.1399616.
Pescador, Juan Javier. “Global Fútbol, the Masked Fan, and Flat Screen Arenas: Mexican Soccer Communities in the USA and the Genesis of the Tricolor Brand in Global Landscapes, 1970–2012.” In Perspectives on the U.S.-Mexico Soccer Rivalry: Passion and Politics in Red, White, Blue, and Green, edited by Jeffrey W. Kassing and Lindsey J. Meân, 243–262. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Wallace, Tim. “The Soccer Wars: Hispanic Immigrants in Conflict and Adaptation at the Soccer Borderzone.” NAPA Bulletin 31 (2009): 64–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4797.2009.01019.x.