As Argentina prepare to face Spain in the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday, fans across the country are relying on their lucky rituals to help Lionel Messi and his team lift the trophy.
Argentina booked their place in the final with a dramatic 2-1 win over England in the semi-finals on Wednesday. Now, with just one match separating them from back-to-back World Cup titles, emotions are running high.
To deal with the tension, many supporters are sticking to the superstitions they believe bring the team good fortune.
For 48-year-old accountant Andres Gonzalez, every match follows the same routine. Nobody is allowed to change seats once the game starts.
“If someone goes to the bathroom and Argentina scores, we don’t let them come back until the match is over,” Gonzalez told AFP, describing what Argentines call a cabala—a lucky ritual believed to help the team win.
These traditions are followed by people from all walks of life. Even Argentine President Javier Milei admitted that he never changes the way he watches World Cup matches.
“I always watch the games from the presidential residence. I won’t break that tradition,” he said in a radio interview.
At the home of 65-year-old Estela Vargas, everyone wears the same clothes and sits in the same chair for every Argentina match. Even the family dog has a role.
“Against England, we dressed our English bulldog in an Argentina jersey,” she said. “For the Spain match, he’ll stay outside the house no matter what.”
For Graciela Campos, the lucky charm is her mother-in-law, who leaves the living room during matches and spends the game in the kitchen knitting a blue-and-white scarf.
While these rituals may sound unusual, fans take them very seriously.
Sociologist Diego Murzi says football in Argentina is much more than a sport.
“Argentines don’t feel like they are just watching the game. They feel like they are part of it,” Murzi explained. “These rituals make people believe they are helping the team by bringing good luck and keeping bad luck away.”
He also pointed to former Argentina coach Carlos Bilardo, who was famous for his superstitions despite being known for his scientific approach to the game.
Murzi recalled one of Bilardo’s famous stories. During Argentina’s first World Cup match, a phone rang in the dressing room. A player answered it, but nobody spoke. Since Argentina won that match, Bilardo made sure the same phone rang before every game, with the same player answering it and no one speaking on the other end.
Across Buenos Aires, streets decorated in Argentina’s blue and white colours reflect the excitement ahead of the final.
Seventy-four-year-old Lidia Otero believes her lucky habits never fail.
During the semi-final against England, her dog was watching the television in the first half and Argentina failed to score.
“In the second half, I turned the dog around,” she laughed. “That’s when the match turned in Argentina’s favour.”
The memory of Diego Maradona also remains a source of inspiration for many fans. His former home in Buenos Aires has become a place where supporters pay tribute to the football icon.
Some rituals are even passed down through generations.
Eleven-year-old Messi fan Rodrigo Serna proudly shared one he learned from his grandfather.
“I put the sticker of Argentina’s rival player in the freezer before the match,” he said. “That’s our lucky tradition.”
