{"id":632755,"date":"2026-06-11T08:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/632755\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T08:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:51:11","slug":"world-cup-2026-mexico-city-hosts-opening-match-but-protests-overshadow-excitement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/632755\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: Mexico City hosts opening match but protests overshadow excitement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And this spotlight has also spilled over into other protests too. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Further along Paseo de la Reforma, near the headquarters of two of the country&#8217;s national newspapers, hundreds of striking teachers had gathered beneath the buildings. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They were protesting against their pay, pensions and working conditions, with many having travelled for hours to be there. Local residents said other public-sector workers had joined them in solidarity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The deliberate effort to make their message understood beyond Mexico continued, with some protestors translating their chants into English so visiting tourists could understand what they were fighting for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;We don&#8217;t want a World Cup,&#8221; they said. &#8220;We just want better pay.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;The World Cup is not made for local people,&#8221; one protester announced through a megaphone. &#8220;It&#8217;s made for rich businessmen who can afford tickets.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Among many residents, attending a World Cup match is viewed as unrealistic. The suggestion of having a ticket to a game is often met with laughter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Tickets are far too expensive. We could never afford those,&#8221; is a commonly expressed sentiment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Instead, many fans said they planned to head to local bars and fan zones to watch the matches and soak up the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">So, as kick-off approaches, Mexico City is presenting itself to the world as a vibrant and welcoming city that is consumed by the excitement of hosting football&#8217;s biggest spectacle for the third time in its history, the only city to do so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But amid the flags, fan zones and celebrations, there are also voices determined not to let the moment pass without being heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Families searching for missing loved ones, teachers demanding fairer pay, and ordinary residents questioning who truly benefits from the tournament. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For the next few weeks, the world&#8217;s attention will be fixed on Mexico. But the question for many protestors is whether, once the final whistle blows, anyone will still be listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And this spotlight has also spilled over into other protests too. Further along Paseo de la Reforma, near&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-632755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}