LAFC defeated Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami with a score of 3-0 at the historic Los Angeles Coliseum yesterday Saturday February 21st, 2026. The teams played the 2026 MLS season opener in front of a reported 75,673 fans in attendance. Los Angeles’ beauty could be seen from the press box as the white snow-covered San Gabriel Mountains framed the downtown LA skyline; and much closer the silhouettes of the California Science Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art added to the beautiful background of the stadium.

The Mexican American Mark Delgado represented us on the field along with LAFC teammate Mexican American and Salvadorean Nathan Ordaz, who participated in the final minutes of the game as a substitute for Son Heung-Min. Ordaz punctuated the Angeleno victory with a right-footed goal from very close range at the 94th minute to close the game 3-0. I have not had the opportunity to ask these two young men if they identify as Chicano. However, it is encouraging to see our people compete successfully alongside Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi, Uruguayan Luis Suarez, Korean Son Heung-Min, and French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

LAFC’s Mark Delgado and Inter Miami’s Rodrigo De Paul

As a young man, I questioned why my father preferred to watch Mexican professional soccer instead of what I thought were better foreign leagues, like Spain’s La Liga or England’s Premiere League. I later appreciated that he valued his country’s style of soccer, narrators speaking and criticizing players in his language with jokes and references he understood, and seeing games played in stadiums or cities he may have visited. Similarly, I value LAFC for being a product of Los Angeles that I am honored to write about to a global audience.