The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Mexico on Thursday with a victory by the Mexican national team over South Africa, while thousands of protesters took to the streets of Mexico City, one of the tournament's host cities, to denounce government inaction and the country's ongoing disappearance crisis.
Beginning at 7 am (1300GMT), hours before the opening of the global football tournament co-hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada, demonstrators from a variety of social movements gathered at locations throughout Mexico City to protest violence in the country and criticize the federal government.
The protesters represented a range of causes as the world's attention turned toward Mexico for the start of the World Cup.
The National Coordinator of Education Workers, a teachers' union considered one of the country's largest labor groups, occupied major roadways in southern Mexico City connecting the rest of the capital to Azteca Stadium, where the tournament's opening match was played.
Teachers traveled to the capital from across the country to demand that the government repeal 2007 pension reforms which replaced the previous state-backed pension system based on years of service with an individual contribution scheme tied to financial markets.
The teachers demanded that the current system — which relies on investing workers' financial contributions in a diverse array of financial securities, resulting in meager pensions — be abolished in order to protect the livelihood of retired professors.
According to the teachers, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised on the campaign trail in 2024 to abolish the system and restore the old pension order.
Professor Alejandro Gutierrez, one of the march organizers, told Anadolu: "On the contrary, what she has done is meet with business leaders and financial interests that control the pension fund administrators, known in Mexico as Afores.
“These same funds have enriched themselves at the expense of money contributed by public sector workers, with foreign capital now controlling assets equivalent to nearly 20% of the country's GDP.”
On average, the total pension earned by retired workers amounts to less than $400 a month, while the minimum wage in Mexico stands at $530.
"In that sense,” Gutierrez continued, “the World Cup serves as a platform to show the world the level of discontent that exists in Mexico. But this is not only about the specific situation facing teachers. There are other mobilizations and other social groups taking to the streets as well, demanding solutions to problems that the president, who claims to be close to the people, has failed to address.”
Elisa Portillo, a music teacher in Mexico City, joined the teachers' march on Thursday and spoke with Anadolu about the need to demonstrate at the World Cup inauguration.
"I’m ashamed of how the president has walked back campaign promises made to teachers and mothers looking for their missing loved ones,” Portillo complained. “She came to power thanks in part to the support of these movements, and once in office she turned her back on them. Now she even suggests that these movements are being financed by shadowy right-wing interests.”
"All of this is being done to please the United States and FIFA,” the world football body organizing the World Cup, she added. Sheinbaum is eroding her popular support “in exchange for a month of applause from foreigners.”
On the other side of the city, along Reforma Avenue near the Angel of Independence monument, groups of mothers searching for missing relatives gathered to demand justice for a disappearances crisis that has accumulated more than 130,000 cases nationwide.
Speaking to Anadolu, Maricela Reyes, an activist and humanitarian worker at a migrant shelter in Mexico City, explained why demonstrations during the World Cup are necessary.
"The issue of disappearances in Mexico has become something the state wants to silence,” she said.
“Efforts by organizations and relatives of missing persons have forced the issue onto the public agenda despite years of complaints. Mexican authorities don’t even have a clear strategy to count how many people have disappeared in the country. On top of that, there’s little interest in documenting how many migrants have disappeared while crossing Mexico.”
According to groups dedicated to supporting victims and studying enforced disappearances, more than one person disappears every hour in Mexico.
While many of these cases are attributed to organized crime, gaps in the government response, as well as documented instances in which police and military officials have been implicated, have led many activists to view the disappearance crisis as a broader state responsibility rather than solely a consequence of criminal activity.
"It is well known that regions experiencing higher levels of organized crime violence are also places where abuses against migrants increase,” said Reyes.
“Take Tamaulipas in 2010, when organized crime was at its peak and migrants disappeared there. Then in 2024, as violence intensified in southern states, migrants were reported missing in Chiapas as well.”
Between December 2024 and January 2025 alone, up to 80 migrants were reported missing in southeastern Mexico, particularly in Chiapas.
At Azteca Stadium, Mexico's national team opened its World Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory over South Africa. Meanwhile, thousands of fans gathered in Mexico City's central Zocalo square, where authorities had installed giant screens broadcasting the match.
At the same time, miles away from the stadium, protesters clashed with city police, resulting in the use of excessive force against marching students.
Without any official statement from the Mexico City government, student groups and other organizations continued calling for public support as 12 demonstrators, most of them young students, were apprehended and taken away by the police.
