The successful opening of the World Cup 2026 in Mexico City and Guadalajara coincided with protests and civil unrest against the government, hoping to get greater visibility now that the whole world is following the football competition, in a series of demonstrations that ended in clashes with the police.
On Thursday, thousands of teachers and activists marched towards the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, blocking major roads in the city as thousands of people were moving to the stadium, demanding higher pay and the withdrawal of the pensions law. The demonstration was one of many from the last days, with some camping in the Zocalo square in the days before the tournament and some cases of civil unrest and road blocked. The movements were organised by CNTE, a dissident wing of the Mexican teachers' union.
<social>https://x.com/MailSport/status/2065176408343634269</social>
Other groups also organised protests during the day of the opening matches of the World Cup, about topics unrelated to the competition, but aiming to benefit from the increased number of reporters. According to Reuters, there were at least six protests planned on Thursday, with collectives of workers in healthcare, transport, prisons, oil and electric companies or farmers.
One of the larger demonstrations was against the inaction of the federal government in the crisis of missing persons due to drug cartel wars. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who did not attend the match, and won't attend any match, as she decided to raffle her VIP ticket, and won by a young Indigenous woman.