Underground Atlanta welcomes Argentina fans ahead of World Cup semifinal
As Argentina fans flock to Atlanta ahead of the FIFA World Cup semifinal, Underground Atlanta is once again turning into Underground Argentina.
This is the second time Atlanta has welcomed Argentina in the last week, as it defeated Egypt in an all-time classic, last-minute comeback game in the round of 16. Now, La Albiceleste is set to face England in the semifinal on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET.
Before kickoff, Argentina supporters have a dedicated spot to gather. Underground Atlanta is hosting a two-day festival. It started at 2 p.m. Tuesday and will rage on until 2 a.m. Wednesday. It picks back up at 11 a.m. Wednesday with a watch party for fans who can’t get into Atlanta Stadium, with a post-match celebration — or a place to drown out sorrows — through 11 p.m.
“It turned into a snowball effect where we wanted to do something smaller, but the fan fest at Centennial Park was so successful that it was getting sold out, and they couldn’t limit the country, so we decided to host something for one country, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger,” Underground Atlanta owner Shaneel Lalani said.
For the round of 16 match, Lalani said the celebrations continued into 3 a.m. to celebrate the unlikely win. Across the two days, the venue welcomed around 10,000 fans. This time around, Lalani is expecting that number to double, with the city also shutting off neighboring streets.
Diehard supporter groups who travel across the world to follow Argentina saw what the historic downtown venue was doing and wanted to get involved. Hinchas Argentinos have fans from all over the South American country. Oscar is from Mar del Plata, a coastal city in southeastern Argentina. He has road-tripped in a large van decked out to showcase his Argentina fandom from Kansas City to Dallas to Miami to Atlanta back to Kansas City and finally returning to Atlanta for the semifinal.
“This is a movement,” Oscar said. “This is part of us; we got people coming from Argentina, (they) fly, leave a family, leave everybody and save money for four years for this.”
Supporter groups gathered at Piedmont Park ahead of the knockout game last time in Atlanta, but the location was too far from the stadium, and they did not have enough space as they do at Underground Atlanta to tailgate, flag raising ceremony, complete with a rally that includes fireworks, drums and chants.
“It’s phenomenal. It gives me goosebumps that I’m able to have a space for 10,000, 15,000 fans to gather and celebrate,” Lalani said. “I don’t think they can do that anywhere else in the city.”
Since Lalani purchased the property six years ago, he’s been planning to do something “iconic” for the World Cup ever since. Now that Atlanta’s participation in the global tournament is almost over, he feels Underground Atlanta has met the benchmark they hoped to reach. The next goal is the Super Bowl in 2028.
“There is great activity going on around the property that wasn’t here five years ago,” Lalani said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to continue this momentum to bring the downtown to its core, to its potential, where it needs to be.”
When Lalani took over the more than 50-year-old downtown venue, it was about 5% occupied; now Lalani said it is 65%. For some longtime tenants, this summer has felt like a return to the glory days.
“Our family has been at this property for more than 30 years,” Soon Tan of China Breeze said. “I remember working alongside my dad during the ‘96 Olympics and feeling that same energy downtown. This global soccer moment brings me right back to it.”
Lalani said a bigger hurdle when he acquired the property was to add a vibrant nightlife where people have historically been hesitant to come downtown after dark. With nightclubs like the Masquerade and MJQ, Lalani said it’s refreshing to see the young crowd visit. Now, the next challenge is bringing back daytime groups. Underground Atlanta said it will lean on community building and supporting small businesses to continue its restoration.
The fans in blue and white have certainly taken on that community-first energy from sharing Argentine barbecue to passing around free water under the sweltering Georgia heat. The fan march down to the stadium will begin at Underground Atlanta, and win or lose, it will end there too.
England stars like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham pose a threat to the reigning champs. Oscar said Argentines don’t look too far past the present. He is not thinking about whether he is going to take his Argentina-themed van 14 hours to East Rutherford, New Jersey, for the final. They are taking it one step at a time, or “paso a paso.”
Argentina fans are living for today, and they’re living it underground.
“We want people to see that we did this for Argentina, but this is open for any country that wants to have a celebration of their own underground,” Lalani said. “It’s a multicultural destination; everyone’s welcome over here. As I was an immigrant when we came from India to Atlanta, the first place my family took us to was Underground Atlanta. So, this is like a full circle for us.”