Mexico is preparing to host the biggest and most politicised World Cup in history – unlike its noisy neighbours to the north, above all it is a football nation.
“We have that in the blood,” tourism minister Michelle Fridman tells The i Paper. “Everyone in Mexico just loves football. I would say it’s an integrator of society. We’ll have fun – we’ll celebrate with lots of tequila and mariachi music.”
The tournament is a chance to “show Mexico to the world”. Alongside co-hosts Canada and the United States, Mexico will hold 16 matches across Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City. Over $12bn (£9bn) has been invested.
Yet when it kicks off Claudia Sheinbaum, the country’s first female president, will not be there to see it. She has delivered on a promise to give away her ticket to the opening ceremony to an indigenous woman.
Mexico’s national team tend to thrive on home soil – they reached the quarter-finals (their best World Cup run) in both 1970 and 1986, tournaments they hosted. But neither had a backdrop quite like this one.
