El Tri fans celebrate Mexico’s World Cup win at Rainbow Ballroom in Fresno

Fresno soccer fans showed off their Mexico “El Tri” team jerseys as they packed the Rainbow Ballroom, the downtown venue that hosted one of the largest World Cup watch parties in the city for the first round of knockouts.

Mexico played Ecuador on Tuesday at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Mexico won all three of its World Cup group-stage matches and was the first team to secure its spot in the Round of 32.

Now, after winning 2-0, Mexico is going to the Round of 16 on Sunday. It will play the winner of the Wednesday, July 1, game between England and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

About 1,200 Mexico fans rejoiced as Mexico’s Julian Quinones scored the team’s first goal of game at the 22-minute mark. Nine minutes later, the venue erupted in shouts as Mexico’s Raul Jimenez scored the team’s second goal at minute 31.

For Vicente Chavez of Fresno and Lalo Iniguez of Visalia, Tuesday’s watch party at the Rainbow Ballroom was the first one they had attended in Fresno.

They are part of the Pancho Villa’s Army (PVA Fresno) La porra de Mexico (The cheerleading squad of Mexico), a group of Mexican soccer fans with chapters in various cities including Phoenix and Fresno.

The Fresno chapter showed up Tuesday with about 40 members, including friends and family. The group has been active since 2019 and organizes watch parties and trips for Mexico’s national team games.

Chavez, Iniguez and other members of the PVA Fresno have just returned from attending World Cup games and watch parties in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Some attended the opening game between Mexico and South Africa and the game between Mexico and South Korea.

The organization aims to united Mexican soccer fans and support the Mexican national team.

Many Fresno soccer fans were turned away Tuesday before the game even started because the Rainbow Ballroom reached capacity. Tuesday’s watch party was the venue’s fourth massive free Mexico watch party for the World Cup 2026.

Besides the Rainbow Ballroom, numerous venues across town hosted watch parties for the Mexico game on Tuesday.

Several venues will host watch parties for the USA game on Wednesday. The U.S. plays Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara

This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 6:45 AM.

María G. Ortiz-Briones

The Fresno Bee

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María G. Ortiz-Briones is a reporter and photographer for McClatchy’s Vida en el Valle publication and the Fresno Bee. She covers issues that impact the Latino community in the Central Valley. She is a regular contributor to La Abeja, The Bee’s free weekly newsletter on Latino issues. | María G. Ortiz-Briones es reportera y fotógrafa de la publicación Vida en el Valle de McClatchy y el Fresno Bee. Ella cubre temas que impactan a la comunidad latina en el Valle Central. Es colaboradora habitual de La Abeja, el boletín semanal gratuito de The Bee sobre temas latinos. Support my work with a digital subscription