A fourth goal arrived only four minutes later, and the Chileans opted to celebrate in the middle of the pitch this time.
At that stage, popcorn was still visible on the pitch. At first, ushers moved to pick up and dust off the kernels whenever play shifted to the opposite side of the pitch. Before the 60th minute, the scoreboard read 5-0 in favor of Chile. With popcorn still visible on the pitch, Mexican fans began heading for the exits.
Brooms and dustpans appeared in the ushers’ hands, as the popcorn would finally disappear from the playing field, mirroring the El Tri supporters leaving Levi’s Stadium.
By the time the sixth goal arrived, Mexico fans had halted shouting the homophobic slur at Bravo and instead screamed it every time Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa punted up from his own box. When Edson Puch scored in the 87th minute to make the score 7-0, fans behind Ochoa’s goal hurled anything they could find in the direction of the keeper. A few pieces of plastic made it to the field but most fell short and put the security staff in danger.
As the stadium emptied, pockets of violence popped up. It was not widespread, and this match did not feature flares like the European Championships. But following the previous outbursts, the minor violence only further accented the poor display by Mexico on the pitch and in the stands.
When the final whistle blew, more debris rained down. However, with the crowd mostly emptied and the trash already thrown, the final flurry did not cause much of a disturbance or cause for concern.
A segment of Mexican fans reminded everyone that they're not all rotten apples. As the Chilean players walked off the pitch, Sombrero-donning and green-wearing Mexico supporters close to the tunnel stood and applauded the victorious players off the pitch.
The gesture showed how beautiful a little bit of class can be, even on a monumentally ugly night.
