A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to document the 2026 FIFA World Cup games in Mexico City transformed into so much more for photographer Gabe Nava.

“It’s about celebrating Latino culture,” said Nava, curator of “¿Y SI SÍ? Dreams from the 2026 World Cup,” a photo gallery. “It’s something that I wear on my sleeve more than anything.”

Two months after the World Cup games and far from the field, Nava revived the spirit shared among Hispanic and Latino communities and soccer fans with photos he shot during the games in Mexico City.

“[The gallery] is centered solely on what Mexico did at the World Cup and the photos that I was so blessed to be able to capture while being there,” Nava said. “It’s a lot more about that Latino spirit and being able to overcome any and all obstacles.”

In the heart of Los Angeles’ Koreatown, red and green lights, reminiscent of Mexico’s flag, lined the entrance of Nava’s first solo gallery show, “¿Y SI SÍ? Dreams from the 2026 World Cup,” which debuted Thursday night at UN-OTHER.

“¿Y si sí?”, which roughly translates to “What if yes?”, became a unifying phrase for El Tri fans to rally behind during the World Cup, embodying hope and resilience.

“Growing up, I always wanted to be an artist and have an art gallery,” Nava said. “It’s what I do for a living, and it’s what I wanna do for the rest of my life, so to see people coming out and supporting me is just so crazy.”

From the first step into the gallery, undeniable Latino pride seemed to buzz off the photographs hanging on the walls, with culture emanating from every corner.

“Whether you are Mexican, Latino, or from any other part of the world, you felt it, I felt it, the world felt it,” read information cards scattered around the gallery. “This show is a time machine back to those short weeks in the middle of summer, where we were reminded that it is okay to dream big.”

The rhythms of Latin music, including influential narcocorrido Mexican singer Chalino Sánchez’s “Alma Enamorada,” soundtracked a night of family, friends and soccer fans coming together to relive the electric energy that was present during Mexico’s World Cup games.

“I’ve always had ambitions of being [at the World Cup] as a fan, and to actually be there on the field, best seat in the house, doing what I love most — that was beyond what I ever could have imagined,” Nava said. “Every single day, it just felt like I needed to really soak it all in and embrace these moments because not everyone gets these opportunities.”

A lifelong artist, Nava said he’s always gravitated toward printed photography, from magazines to photobooks. After the World Cup ended, Nava organized his coverage of the Mexico City games into a sample photobook, a video of which attracted online attention. That’s when the idea of curating “¿Y SI SÍ? Dreams from the 2026 World Cup” sparked.

With his creative partners, artists Manny Martinez and Gabriel Medina of Mano Pesada Productions, Nava brought his childhood dream of hosting an art gallery to life.

“This show is all that encompasses who I am,” Nava said. “I know that’s kind of cliché to say ‘Anything is possible,’ … but I’m a really big believer in [that] you make your own luck.”

Whether viewers watched the World Cup with screaming fans in a stadium or with a bottle of Modelo at a local sports bar, Nava’s photos uniquely captured the collective joy felt by El Tri fans, immortalizing the Latino spirit of perseverance through his photography.

The gallery featured selected images that Nava captured in the Estadio Azteca stadium: action shots of Raúl Jiménez kissing a soccer ball and sharing a moment with England’s Jude Bellingham; Santiago Giménez lying on the field; and close-up photos of Julián Quiñones, Johan Vásquez and the Mexico national football team walking on the field together and forming a huddle.

Beyond the turf, Nava also captured the celebration brewing in the stands — fans cheering, waving Mexico’s flag and hugging one another with wide smiles across their faces, and a man wearing a sombrero against the backdrop of the stadium. One image of a crowd of fans sporting red and green jerseys, raising their hands in the air and proudly waving the Mexican flag, epitomized the joy across Mexico City.

“In a time and place right now in the world where there’s so much division, and there’s so much craziness going on, it’s important for people to be proud of where they come from … to be proud of what they believe in, to be proud of the things that make them who they are,” Nava said.

To complement his photographs, artist Ashley Serrano’s painting of the Mexico team, inspired by Nava’s work, hung from the gallery’s ceiling. From Hood Baby’s Mexico City jersey designs embellished with lace to an exclusive Guillermo Ochoa foam finger, visitors could carry a piece of the World Cup home, sip a matcha or Modelo from Space Cafe and receive a self-portrait from Bad Portraits by Alex.

Nava’s gallery also premiered at the L.A. Galaxy soccer game Saturday at the team’s museum exhibit.

“Be proud of your culture and represent who you are,” Nava said. “There’s still a need for that in this world.”