Even today, Mexico is a country with a high crime rate, a fact that negatively affects its economic development and social stability. The drug cartels are powerful, and their influence runs deep within Mexican society.
It was this situation that convinced then-U.S. President Barack Obama in 2013 to agree that the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be held in Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
The then-U.S. president believed that this would be a positive initiative to revitalize Mexican society while simultaneously strengthening North America’s position on the global geopolitical map. This view was shared at the time by the governments of Canada and Mexico, which co-signed the bid to host the 2026 World Cup submitted to FIFA.
Moreover, this bid was also intended to strengthen unity among the three countries, according to Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico’s former ambassador to the U.S. in 2013.
The Geopolitics
But by the time the joint bid was approved in 2018—one year into Trump’s first term—that very idea was on shaky ground. Trump had already pushed for a renegotiation of the three countries’ free trade agreement.
Now, the narrative of unity seems even more at odds with reality. Trump has imposed high tariffs on both countries, referring to Canada as a future U.S. state and threatening to bomb Mexico.
Can the trade agreement, now known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), still survive an ongoing review?
Amid the current trade and immigration conflicts between Mexico and the United States, “there is no unity,” said Professor Velázquez de León, though he added that the tournament could reflect well on its hosts if it unfolds in a festive and peaceful atmosphere.
Predicting how the World Cup will affect the reputation of the host countries can be risky. Headlines about mass protests ahead of the 2014 World Cup, hosted by Brazil, were soon replaced by images of a multicultural party of fans on Copacabana Beach as soon as the matches began.
Tourism
Even so, however, certain defining characteristics of this year’s World Cup are already clear. Many fans are complaining about the high ticket prices, which are preventing them from attending matches in all three host countries.
A few weeks before the start of the World Cup, hotel bookings were lower than expected in cities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Some fans chose not to travel this year because of ticket prices, said Joao Paulo Fernandes, co-owner of Turista FC, a Brazilian sports tourism agency.
Some prospective travelers also “have a political stance against what is happening in the United States” and “do not feel comfortable, welcome, or at ease there,” Fernandes said. Since Trump’s return to power, U.S. authorities have detained or turned away several high-profile tourists at the border.
Mexico, meanwhile, relaxed its entry requirements for Brazilians in February. Fernández said that some fan groups he works with have chosen to watch matches only in Mexico.
This trend is not unique to this year’s World Cup: Mexico is currently experiencing a surge in international tourism, while the number of visitors to the United States has been declining since 2025. Of the three host countries, Mexico allows the most nationalities to enter without a visa. Although Mexico is a close partner of the U.S., it has opposed some of the Trump administration’s controversial foreign policy moves.
The idea that Mexico would welcome teams and participants from around the world was put to the test last month. Amid the war in Iran, the United States did not want the Iranian national team to be hosted on its soil, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters.
The team had planned to stay at a training camp in Arizona but moved to Tijuana, Mexico. Mexico welcomed the Iranian team without “any problems,” Sheinbaum said.
“Mexico is becoming more internationalist. It values this both in sports and in geopolitics,” said Matthew Brown, a historian at the University of Bristol. He added that Mexico’s approach to the World Cup is closer to the tournament’s ideals than that of the United States: a “celebration of all flags at the top of the stadium, not just one.”
However, Mexico’s openness to the world has its limits when it comes to immigration, said Axel Elias, a historian at the University of Veracruzana—noting that the Sheinbaum administration has quietly adopted a restrictive stance toward migrants heading north. But “this restriction concerns government policies,” Elias said, not necessarily “at the level of interpersonal relationships.”
Relations between people will be on display as the cities hosting the World Cup in Mexico—Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey—host free fan festivals that authorities expect to draw millions of people. The United States and Canada are also planning outdoor viewing events, although not all of them are free; a ticket in Los Angeles costs $10.
As with tickets, the cost of admission to fan festivals matters, said Heather Dichter, a historian at De Montfort University, noting that the free outdoor festivals during the 2006 World Cup in Germany helped boost the country’s image. Something similar is happening now with Mexico.