Spain knocks out Austria, but U.S. and Mexico fans are celebrating

INGLEWOOD — Two sets of fans enjoyed the opportunity to relax and celebrate the World Cup scene on Thursday at SoFi Stadium.

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Neither had a team on the pitch.

Sure, the stands were loaded with enthusiastic Spain supporters, including Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem – and seemingly a handful of Austria’s faithful – but Mexico and U.S. devotees showed up with strong numbers and big smiles.

After all, their teams already had reached the Round of 16, and the Americans are a Monday victory against Belgium away from a return to SoFi Stadium for a July 10 quarterfinal.

Spain joined them with a 3-0 victory over Austria, to move on to the Round of 16 in Arlington, Texas, on Monday, and could return to SoFi for the aforementioned quarterfinal.

As tense as Thursday’s game was, especially early on, for Spain and Austria supporters, it was a party for the many in attendance wearing U.S. and Mexico colors.

“It’s been amazing so far,” said Ivan Arvizo, a Mexico fan from San Diego. “They’ve been playing great, keeping clean sheets. And next is England on Sunday.”

The main constant in the World Cup so far, beyond a high dose of drama, has been the huge presence of fans in green Mexico jerseys, no matter the venue.

His brother, Manuel Rosiles, originally was a Mexico fan, too, but, “As I grew up, I fell in love with the U.S. team.”

He was wearing a jacket from the 1994 World Cup, the most recent one before this year’s that was hosted in the U.S. It read, “Making soccer history.”

Even though Rosiles was too young to watch any of the games from that World Cup, he was inspired by the Americans’ history in that tournament and has enjoyed their run to the Round of 16 this time.

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Albert Lopez is such a fan of both Mexico and the U.S. that he was in Mexico City on Tuesday in the fan zone outside Mexico’s 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Ecuador and in the stands at SoFi, wearing his American gear, on Thursday.

“I’ve been a fan of both Mexico and the U.S. for a long time,” said Lopez, who lives in Tijuana and San Diego. “This has been a lot of fun to see them both doing so well.”

His 13-year-old son, Albert Jr., wore a shirt with American star Christian Pulisic’s No. 10 and said he was having a great time watching the U.S. team succeed. After all, it hadn’t won a knockout-stage game before Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2002, well before he was born.

Armando and Sandra Orellana of Eagle Rock had him beat by a while. They actually attended games in the 1994 World Cup, even having some tickets given to them when the interest wasn’t high for one of the games at the Rose Bowl.

Armando attended the U.S. opener June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, but he wasn’t sure if his second game of this World Cup on Thursday would be his last. As much as he would love to see the Americans again if they advance to the quarterfinal at SoFi, he’s taken a look at tickets on the secondary market.

“Those prices are getting stupid,” he said and shook his head.

The get-in price for that one was $3,215 as of Thursday afternoon, even though the participants won’t be determined until Monday.

Makenzie Chronopoulos, a U.S. national beach soccer player who lives in Yucaipa, made it to her first game of the tournament with her kids Mateo, 11; Capri, 9; and Alexi, 7. They all were decked out in U.S. gear, though they were sure to say Spain was their team Thursday.

After all, Spanish star Lamine Yamal, who will turn 19 on July 13, is only a little older than them.

As much as they were excited about Thursday’s game, they were thrilled about how the U.S. has been playing in the tournament it is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada.

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“It really seems like there’s something special happening,” Chronopoulos said.