World Cup-2026: FIFA will send a mission to assess security in Mexico

Fifa will send a mission to Mexico to assess several sensitive subjects, including security for the 2026 Football World Cup matches which will take place in this country, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Friday.

The leader specified that she had spoken on Thursday with the president of the International Football Federation, Gianni Infantino. In the process, the latter reaffirmed on Instagram his “full confidence in the host country” after a wave of violence linked to the death of a powerful drug lord revived concerns about security in the country.

Gianni Infantino explained, the president reported during a press conference, that he “assured me of the holding of the World Cup in our country and we agreed that a Fifa team would come anyway to examine several subjects”.

The Fifa boss asked her if anything in particular worried her, she continued. “I told him: +no (…) Sunday, it was a special situation and we returned to normal”, she added.

Claudia Sheinbaum specified that Fifa’s mission would focus in particular on issues of traffic and transport available to football supporters.

On Tuesday, the Mexican president assured that there was “no risk” for supporters and that “all security guarantees” would be in place for Guadalajara to host matches for the 2026 Football World Cup as planned.

The city of Guadalajara will host four matches in June for the 2026 World Cup, which Mexico is co-hosting with the United States and Canada. It will also host, next month, along with the city of Monterrey (north-east), the play-offs which will determine the last two of the 48 selections qualified for the World Cup.

Mexico has been the scene of an explosion of violence since the death of drug trafficker Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho”, during a military operation carried out last Sunday in the state of Jalisco (central-west). “El Mencho” led the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartel.

AFP