Across Mexico, a co-host of the 2026 World Cup, football pitches are laid out wherever communities can find the space. On the edges of towns, on highway underpasses, and even in a volcano crater, spaces are cleared that allow people young and old to share in the dream of the beautiful game.In an impoverished neighbourhood in Monterrey, northern Mexico, 14-year-old Humberto Guadalupe, nicknamed “Messi” by friends and family, spends his weekends on the community’s only football field, surrounded by abandoned cars and dirt roads.
Humberto Guadalupe (left), 14, and Eduardo Reyes, 12, play football, followed by snacks organised by evangelists, in Monterrey
Humberto with his grandfather Guadalupe Mendonza Guerrero and his grandmother Maria del Carmen Gutierrez Rodriguez at their house at Cerro de la Campana, Monterrey.
Just like the legendary Argentinian player who inspired his nickname, Humberto dreams of becoming a professional player one day, encouraged by his grandmother. “One way or another, it’s going to happen,” he says. “Even when we lose a match, we keep our heads up.”
Pandilleros team members seen warming up through a broken car window before the Cerro de la Campana llanero championship semifinal tie against Bandoleros at Los Pinos football pitch in Monterrey
