Watching football abroad: Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has the highest concentration of football teams of any city in the world, with no fewer than 24 professional sides. The two biggest, however, are Maradona’s former team Boca Juniors and River Plate (currently in the second tier).

If you’re in The Capital of Tango, you’ll probably want to see a match at La Bombonera, Boca Juniors’ stadium. In these working class environs, surrounded by crumbling houses and blocks of flats, football is an all consuming insanity, and the fans are quite frankly mental.

Boca fans during a match against River Plate

Take care though: Boca, and specifically La Bombonera, isn’t the safest place in the world. If you look/sound out of place then you could find yourself in a bit of mither with the locals — definitely avoid wearing any team colours. There’s a great article about the perils of watching football in Argentina here.

Also, if you’re planning to go to a game, bear in mind that things can change at the last minute in Argentina, so pick up the football newspaper Olé and check the venues and dates.


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