¡Sí se puede!, “Yes, it can be done!”, is the chant of Mexican crowds when a result is not going their way. In September 2026, Crónica wrote that fans use it mostly “cuando un resultado no se siente favorable” (when a result does not feel favorable).
The phrase began in the labor movement. In May 1972, César Chávez fasted in Phoenix, Arizona, against a state law that restricted farmworker unions. When local leaders said that it could not be done, Dolores Huerta answered “Sí, se puede.”
According to El Imparcial, Mexican fans first used it as a sports chant in 1997, cheering a Little League team from Guadalupe, Nuevo León, at the World Series in Williamsport. (Video in Spanish.)
In 2026, a second chant joined it. Crónica credits ¿Y si sí?, “And what if yes?”, to Efraín Juárez, then coach of Pumas. It spread among the national team’s fans during the World Cup. Xataka México wrote that the phrase does not try to build confidence from nothing. It suggests that there are already reasons to believe.