Mexico City — Collectives of mothers searching for missing children, teachers, retirees, transport workers, farmers, healthcare workers, and civil organizations have called for mobilizations on the opening day of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, aiming to draw global attention to social problems and the country’s crisis of disappearances.
The protests are planned for Mexico City as well as the other World Cup host cities, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Organizers have stressed that the demonstrations will be peaceful. On social media, they urged participants to wear white, carry national flags, and bring photographs and search files of missing persons.
In their messages, they stated that on June 11, “Mexico will not only be under the World Cup spotlight. Mexico will be under the eyes of the world,” and that the day will allow them to show “the Mexico the regime wants to hide.”
They also called on attendees to document any incidents and maintain peaceful conduct under the slogan: “Record everything, zero violence, zero provocations.”
Organizers said the mobilizations will highlight demands from various sectors affected by insecurity, unfulfilled government promises, labor conditions, and institutional neglect. They said the world will see mothers searching for their children, education workers, retirees, farmers, transport workers, and healthcare personnel.
They warned: “If they send riot police, the world will see it; if they seal off citizens, the world will see it; if they provoke, the world will see it,” and urged people not to be provoked.
Separately, the Anti-World Cup Assembly and relatives of the disappeared from at least ten states announced activities beginning June 10 with a march and vigil near the Azteca Stadium.
Natalia Lara, a movement spokesperson, said the demonstrations will be peaceful and that for these collectives, the so-called “World Cup of Dispossession” represents “a media cover-up that hides and deepens problems of gentrification, water theft, forced evictions, and the precarization of life.”
According to Latinus, on opening day protesters plan to gather near the Azteca Stadium, the Antimonumento +72, and the capital’s Zócalo, where they will seek to meet with President Claudia Sheinbaum at halftime.
“We think that if she has time to watch soccer, surely at halftime she can give a few minutes to the families,” they said.
“The only intention is to make the disappearance crisis visible and pressure the government to search for our relatives,” said Jorge Verastegui, a member of United Forces for Our Disappeared in Coahuila and Mexico.
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