Campeones de la Calle

The Day Argentina Won The World Cup Through Daniela Spina’s Lens

By Where Is Football

December 22^nd, 2025

Lifelong Huracán fan Daniela Spina has used her love of photography to deeply understand the community culture of football, and now she is using it to give back to the sport and club she loves.

Her project Por Su Gente started naturally, and has taken her places that capture the true essence of the sport. Around this time in December three years ago, Argentina won the World Cup, and Daniela was there on the streets of Buenos Aires to document the moment.

We spoke with her about witnessing football’s purest moments, and why they are so important to remember.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? What is and what has been your relationship with football throughout your life, your work, and at this moment?

I grew up in Parque Patricios, a neighborhood in the south of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This part of the city is deeply passionate about soccer and tango, where the happiness of the neighbors depends on every match played by Club Atlético Huracán.

I am a Huracán supporter. Club Atlético Huracán is a sports club from Parque Patricios, a neighborhood known for tango and football. The people there are mostly working-class, and football is their main source of joy. When the team wins, the entire neighborhood celebrates—the whole week feels different. Everyone talks about the match, and you see people wearing Huracán jerseys everywhere. This neighborhood truly lives and breathes football, and we have a strong identity because of it.

The first person who took me to the stadium was my grandfather when I was nine years old. My mom didn’t want me to be a Huracán fan because she was one herself and had suffered a lot. She thought it would be better for me to support Boca, like my dad. But my grandfather had other plans. I vividly remember walking up the stadium stairs with him, holding hands. The moment I saw the field for the first time was one of the happiest days of my life. I knew right then that I wanted to be a Huracán fan.

At the time, the club was in the second division, fighting to return to the first. Supporting my grandfather’s team meant everything to me. My neighborhood was filled with Huracán fans—I grew up surrounded by its colors and spirit. Choosing Huracán wasn’t just about football; it was about my identity. It was the first time I ever felt the deep joy and heartbreak that football can bring.

All of this led me to want to reflect everything I felt in a photography project, almost without planning it, taking my camera to the stadium since I was 17. That's how "For Its People" came about, the black and white portraits of my club's fans.

Can you tell us what this day meant to you on a personal level? Do you have a favorite photo?

It wasn't a normal day, it wasn't a normal match. At noon, we were watching one of the most epic matches in history. I went to my friend Giuliana's house, the one I'd watched the entire World Cup with. I usually have a hard time watching soccer matches; I'm a Huracán fan, but this time I learned what suffering really is. I cried, I threw myself on the floor, I hid in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and finally, I went to my friend's bed and covered myself up to my head. From there, I heard France's last goal. I didn't have the energy to celebrate when we won the match; I celebrated by crying on the floor. No, I didn't see Messi lifting the cup. I had brought my camera, I ran to the subway (I took the last one that left, then it got packed) and I arrived downtown in 20 minutes. It was one of the happiest days of my life; I've never felt so inspired and joyful taking pictures. My country was celebrating, and I was there to capture it. My eyes were filled with magic: the colors of my country, my fellow countrymen celebrating and embracing each other in the streets. I walked the entire length of 9 de Julio Avenue and Corrientes Avenue and took the photos that brought me the most joy. I walked home, about 5 kilometers, and when I arrived, I watched the game again. I fell asleep watching Messi lift the trophy.

My favorite photograph is the one of the boy passionately waving the Argentina jersey; it's very representative of my country, being a football fanatic from a very young age.

"You don’t have to understand football to enjoy it"

What did you enjoy most about photographing and learning from such passionate fans? Were there any memories or moments that you'll never forget?

The football can tell the story of a neighbourhood or a city. The passion is not negotiable, and the passion is one of the most beautiful things to capture in a photo.

I think this experience as a photographer showed me that you can take photos with a different perspective of the same event. It was a challenge I set for myself that day: to take the best photos I could and try to find a different way of looking at things. I felt very inspired, and I think having my photography project with the Huracán fans helped me a lot; I knew where to look for the right shot and what gestures demonstrated their passion.

I will never forget my fellow countrymen dancing and celebrating in the streets; that joy will never be experienced again.

What is something you're taking away from the 2022 World Cup experience that you would like to apply to future football-related projects?

I learned a lot about how to find photos of celebrations like this. While I usually take photos of the fans at Huracán's stadium, this experience was a thousand times better—so many incredible photos happening all at once. I also learned that football has the power to unite us as a country, and that you don't have to understand football to enjoy it.

How do you see the state of football ahead of the next World Cup, and what would you like to see change from now on?

Both my country and my club have taught me about the social importance of football. I believe it's important to keep this in mind and not prioritize business over the fundamental role of the sport. The fact that this World Cup is taking place in the United States is significant because it's one of the countries where football isn't a major sport; it's an opportunity to enter this market. However, it's crucial that it doesn't lose its essence, which is that it's a sport accessible to everyone and easy to understand and enjoy.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would like to talk about my football project, which came about while going to see my club.

I don’t have an exact date for when I started this project—it happened naturally. I was at the stadium, surrounded by all these incredible moments, and I felt the need to capture them. Football is beautiful, and in Latin America, it’s even more special. Families go together, kids grow up in the stands, and sometimes, even dogs join in (one of my first pictures was of a dog at the stadium).

When I was 17, I co-founded an NGO to support my neighborhood and the club. We did community projects, including painting a massive Huracán flag. I wanted to photograph it after spending so many hours working on it. But when I picked up my camera, I realized there was so much more to capture—the people, the kids, the emotions. That’s how it all started.

The project is called Por Su Gente (“For Their People”), inspired by a song that says, " Huracán es grande, solo grande por su gente y sin salir campeón” (Huracán is great, only great because of its people, even without winning championships). It reflects the reality of being a Huracán fan—we don’t experience trophies often, but we deeply love our club.

As a woman, I always wondered how I could connect with my club beyond just being a fan. Men often dream of scoring goals and hearing the crowd chant their names. For me, this project is my way of giving back and expressing my love for Huracán.

Footnotes

Check out Daniela's work on Instagram @danielasacafotos where she documents the details around Argentinian fútbol with the supporters and in the streets of Buenos Aires.

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FootNotes

Check out Daniela's work on Instagram @danielasacafotos where she documents the details around Argentinian fútbol with the supporters and in the streets of Buenos Aires.