Mexico City Celebrates the World Cup, But Many Residents Aren’t Buying In | Special Report from Mexico

Photo: C14 World Cup 00 days : 00 hours : 00 minutes : 00 seconds Full World Cup section >> Mexico City Celebrates the World Cup, But Many Residents Aren’t Buying In | Special Report from Mexico Ben Gavish 9 minutes ago 0 0

The big city hosting the World Cup opener is projecting one thing outward, but concealing others within. Alongside the festive atmosphere brought by the major tournament, there are also frustrated voices that do not connect with the special occasion. This is what Mexico City looks like in a special report, one day before it records a historic achievement and hosts a third World Cup in its history.

World Cup 2026 Mexico City entered the final day last night, between Wednesday and Thursday, before the opening of the third World Cup to be held in the country. There is no doubt this is a historic event, since no country has ever hosted three World Cups, and the excitement in the streets is indeed noticeable. Large signs with images of the local national team players appear everywhere, alongside signs reading in Spanish, “La pelota vuelve a casa” , the ball is coming home.

15 + The most famous and most closely identified fan with Mexico’s national team, Carmelo | Photo: C14 15 + “The ball is coming home” | Photo: C14 15 + The excitement is at its peak | Photo: C14

However, and unusually, there is a big difference between the visual excitement in the streets and the excitement among residents. In conversations I held with taxi drivers and vendors at various stalls, I understood that the residents’ excitement is only average. Some explained this by saying they have no high expectations for the local team in the upcoming tournament, and some said what may have been obvious in advance, they do not feel this is really their World Cup. One reason for the lack of sense of belonging is the fact that out of 104 matches in the current tournament, only 13 will be played in Mexico. The local team will play twice in the capital and once in the city of Guadalajara, while the later stages, if it reaches them, will be played in the United States.

15 + They are hosting, but it does not feel like theirs. Citizens of Mexico | Photo: C14 15 + The signs do not match the atmosphere (caption: We are Mexico City) | Photo: C14

Another thing that adds to the feeling that this is not truly a Mexican World Cup is the absence of tourists, whom I hardly saw while walking around Mexico City. A major event like the World Cup opener is supposed to draw visitors to a city that is already very touristic, but this time it does not feel that way. The lack of tourism is also evident when walking along the famous Avenida Álvaro Obregón, where many restaurants can be seen empty of people, less than 48 hours before the opening of the major tournament.

15 + The restaurants are empty of people | Photo: C14

Even the fan zone, the “fam zone,” the area meant to gather the various fans for joint viewing of the matches on giant screens alongside food and drink stalls, remained closed until the final hours before kickoff. The area was set up in the Zocalo square, one of Mexico City’s symbols, which simply remained closed off by a tall iron fence and surrounded by police. Beyond that, supporters of the pro-Palestinian camp managed to take advantage of the fence’s installation and defaced it with antisemitic graffiti. In short, not the experience I would expect from a city hosting the opening match of the world’s biggest football tournament.

15 + The iron fence surrounding the fan zone in the background | Photo: C14 15 + Hundreds of police guard the complex | Photo: C14 15 + Antisemitic graffiti, all Zionists are “Nazis” | Photo: C14 15 + More antisemitic graffiti | Photo: C14

In addition to all this, the streets around Zocalo were flooded with hundreds of tent encampments as part of a protest by local teachers. Those teachers moved into tents, some of them with family members, as part of a demand for a new education reform. This created a situation in which, hours before the tournament opens, Mexico City is full of “homeless people” brushing their teeth, getting dressed, and even cooking in the middle of the street in front of thousands of passersby.

15 + Photo: C14 15 + Photo: C14

The damage to Mexican morale can be explained in several ways. One way is the harsh criticism from local residents over the high cost of tickets. Several reports in the global media in the months before the tournament revealed that the limited number of matches and the high prices simply prevent tens if not hundreds of thousands of Mexicans from taking part in the tournament. Those residents, who cannot afford to attend a World Cup in another country, waited 40 years for the tournament to return to Mexico, and were disappointed to discover that even in the local tournament their participation is not possible.

Another possible reason, though probably less significant, is the renaming of the legendary Azteca Stadium. A local company called Banorte bought the naming rights to the stadium and gave it its own name. This is not an unusual move, since it is common in world sport and even in Israel, such as Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball’s Menora Mivtachim Hall or the Shlomo Sixt Stadium in Petah Tikva, but it is certainly harder to change the identity of a stadium that has existed for decades, has already hosted two World Cups, and has become a true national symbol.

15 + Banorte Stadium, formerly Azteca | Photo: C14

The dissonance is somewhat hard to digest. On the one hand the city is dressed for celebration, but on the other it is not behaving that way. By comparison, when I was at the previous World Cup in Qatar, the situation was not at all similar. Doha became a true football city, with giant screens all over the city and groups of fans walking in the street, singing loudly and making every passerby understand, you have arrived at the World Cup. The fears of fans at that time after the ban on alcohol sales in the stadium pale in comparison to the problems I experienced now before the current tournament, problems that probably even a good beer will not be able to solve.

15 + Giant screens all over Doha. World Cup 2022 | Photo: Private 15 + The fans filled the streets. World Cup 2022 | Photo: Private

As can be understood, the last few days in Mexico City have caused me some concern. It is known that football in the United States and Canada, the other host countries, is not the most popular sport, not even second or third, and at least to me it felt that this could hurt the atmosphere during the tournament. That is why my hope came from Mexico, a country where football is, in religious terms, a faith. So yes, my hope has faded somewhat, but I do want to stay positive and remember that in the end the main thing is the football, not everything around it.

15 + The main thing is the football. Spain’s warm-up match in Mexico | Photo: C14

Along with the positive thinking, I want to believe that maybe all the local residents need to change the picture is a crushing victory in the opening match. With hundreds of millions of viewers around the world and tens of thousands of Mexicans in the stadium, such a victory would not only delight the people, but could also send a clear and unmistakable message for the rest of the tournament: this is their World Cup, this is Mexico’s World Cup.

Group draw Group A Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic Group B Canada, Bosnia, Qatar, Switzerland Group C Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland Group D United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey Group E Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador Group F Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia Group G Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand Group H Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay Group I France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway Group J Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan Group K Portugal, Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia Group L England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

Group A Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic Group B Canada, Bosnia, Qatar, Switzerland Group C Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland Group D United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey Group E Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador Group F Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia Group G Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand Group H Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay Group I France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway Group J Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan Group K Portugal, Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia Group L England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama Full World Cup section >> More articles >> 99% of bettors will lose: the World Cup’s giant trap 3 hours ago Efrat Brinner Historic World Cup: all the records that could be broken on the pitch yesterday 12:41 Shoham Maranah Two days to the World Cup, mark your calendars: these are the big matches of the group stage in the World Cup 09.06.26 News Desk C14 Full World Cup section >> Fans, World Cup in Qatar, World Cup Mexico, Mexico City 0 Write a comment