Fans and rights groups have raised safety concerns in Mexico, which opens the FIFA World Cup on June 11.

The ongoing scrutiny of the United States as World Cup cohost, and FIFA’s role as tournament organiser, has overshadowed the growing list of security concerns and protests in Mexico where the tournament opener kicks off next month.

The World Cup 2026 opens in Mexico City on June 11, with the home team taking on South Africa at the Estadio Azteca. But football fans are wary of recent incidents of violence and frequent protests in tournament host cities across Mexico.

A mass shooting that killed 10 people in the Mexican state of Puebla on Sunday has exacerbated security fears previously raised by human rights bodies and international fans travelling to North America for the tournament.

Here’s what’s happened in Mexico in the months leading up to the World Cup:

Shootings, cartel violence raise security fears

Six men, three women and a minor were victims of an armed attack at a residence in Tehuitzingo, 200 kilometres from Mexico City, where the tournament opener is scheduled in just over three weeks.

The state Attorney General’s Office announced it had opened an investigation into the shooting. Prior to the attack, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to bolster security, including the deployment of 100,000 security personnel involving National Guard troops, police officers and employees of private security firms.

The shooting comes less than a month after a gunman killed a Canadian tourist and injured 13 others at Teotihuacan, a ‌‌popular tourist and archaeological site outside Mexico City.

The US Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, is due to visit Mexico this ‌‌week, President Sheinbaum said on Monday but did not specify why.

In April, Human Rights Watch emphasised ahead of the World Cup that Mexico remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the media. It also highlighted that FIFA had not addressed direct risks to journalists working in Mexico’s World Cup host cities.

Amnesty International also called upon FIFA and World Cup hosts to take urgent action to protect fans, players, journalists, workers and local communities as the tournament is being staged at a time of “acute human rights crisis”.

Mexico saw a wave of violence in February, after security forces killed cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said he’s “very reassured” about Mexico hosting the tournament, following the violence triggered by the killing of the drug cartel leader.

Repeated incidents have brought the country’s ability to combat violent crime into question, with its leadership attempting to allay fears and criticism.

Enforced disappearances

Several human rights groups in Mexico are using the World Cup to draw attention to sociopolitical issues that have long remained unaddressed.

On Sunday, relatives of missing persons in Mexico played a football match outside the Nuevo Leon government palace to demand answers about the whereabouts of their loved ones.

The mother of missing person Roy Rivera Hidalgo, Irma Leticia Hidalgo, criticised authorities for investing in what she called “frivolous and superficial activities” while cutting resources from institutions tasked with searching for the disappeared.

There are 133,960 people missing in Mexico, according to official government data, a crisis driven largely by decades of cartel violence and institutional neglect.

Earlier this month on Mother’s Day in North America, thousands of people, led by mothers of the disappeared during decades of drug violence, marched to protest against the violence and impunity plaguing the country.

The mothers of the missing called on football fans to join them, saying “there is nothing to celebrate, because the mothers of Mexico are playing the most difficult match: the one for justice”.

“Mexico, champion in disappearances,” protesters chanted.

“We had to start fighting, because no one wanted to take charge of the disappearance [case],” said Graciela Perez Rodriguez, whose daughter and four other relatives disappeared in 2012.

Teachers’ strike for higher wages

On Friday, teachers and activists marched through Mexico City on Teachers’ Day demanding higher wages and policy changes, with union leaders warning of a nationwide strike that could disrupt the opening of the World Cup next month.

The teachers’ union, the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE), dismissed the government announcement of a nine per cent pay increase and demanded the doubling of  salaries and reversal of education reforms.

Pedro Hernandez Morales, General Secretary of CNTE Section 9 in Mexico City, warned that if demands are not met before Mexico’s opening match on June 11, “the ball will not roll”, and threatened a national teachers’ strike.

The warning heightens tension to an already fraught education debate, after authorities last week reversed a plan to cut short the school year due to the tournament, following a backlash from parents and educators.