The FIFA World Cup's opening match — Mexico 2, South Africa 0 — turned Napper Tandy and the surrounding Mission blocks into a raucous midday gathering, with Mayor Daniel Lurie walking in just before halftime.

By noon Thursday the Napper Tandy, an Irish pub in the Mission, had run out of easy room. Tables were gone, beer was in buckets, and the crowd noise had passed whatever the city considers a comfortable limit — not that anyone was filing a complaint.

The FIFA World Cup opened its first match that afternoon at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City: home team Mexico against former hosts South Africa. Along Mission Street and 24th, flags appeared on storefronts and jerseys turned up on dogs. Bars filled until crowds stood on the sidewalk, watching through windows or not watching at all, just being in the vicinity of the thing.

Mexico won, 2-0.

Just before halftime, Mayor Daniel Lurie walked into the Napper Tandy in a shirt and tie — a wardrobe choice, given the heat. He told Mission Local that 39 days of World Cup was "an event that brings people together. That is so rare and so needed in the world that we live in today." He stayed long enough to get spotted by a few fans, then left.

Many of those watching had considered attending the opener in person; ceremonial-kickoff tickets ran from $1,000 to $4,000. Sixto Ponce, a muay thai coach who drove up from Oakland, cited a consolation: Pacific time means games run all day, no predawn alarms. Moosa Ahmed, a SoMa resident backing Team USA, said he'd "half" thought about flying to Mexico City and ended up in the Mission instead.

The celebration wasn't without friction. David Venegas, originally from Jalisco, pointed to what had happened in the week before the opener: Iraq striker Aymen Hussein was detained for seven hours by Customs and Border Patrol at Chicago O'Hare upon arriving with the Iraqi squad, according to CBS News; the team's photographer, Talal Salah, was held more than 10 hours and denied entry entirely. Somali referee Omar Artan — named referee of the year by the African Football Federation and set to become the first Somali official at a World Cup — was denied entry at Miami International Airport on June 8 after an 11-hour interrogation, and was removed from FIFA's tournament roster. "In Mexico, when South Korea came, they had a mariachi band waiting," Venegas told Mission Local. "And out here, they weren't letting teams get into the country."

On the block outside, the jerseys were still out when the last replays ran.