Mexico’s World Cup kickoff is set for Thursday, but demonstrations, road blockades and uncertainty over a major fan festival are casting a shadow over one of the country’s biggest tourism and economic events in years.

Mexico City is hours away from kicking off the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday, but the celebration is colliding with protests that have blocked roads, toppled tournament displays and put the country’s biggest fan party in doubt. On Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she could not yet guarantee that the capital’s free fan festival would go ahead because a teachers’ protest camp had sealed off access to the main square where it is meant to take place.

The opening match pits host Mexico against South Africa at Estadio Azteca, the Mexico City stadium that anchors a tournament jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. Kickoff is set for Thursday afternoon following a star-studded opening ceremony, with Colombian singer Shakira among the scheduled performers.

Sheinbaum will not attend the match. She said she gave away her ticket and would instead remain focused on monitoring the protests and security situation surrounding the event.

The stakes extend far beyond soccer.

The Mexican Football Federation estimates the tournament will generate roughly $3 billion for hotels, restaurants, transportation providers, sports venues and other tourism-related businesses. Mexico is hosting 13 World Cup matches across Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey during the tournament’s 39-day run.

For many businesses, Thursday’s opener represents the most important single day of the competition. Organizers expect the match and surrounding festivities to attract one of the largest audiences of the entire tournament, making it a showcase event for the country’s tourism and hospitality industries.

That economic opportunity is also fueling some of the protests.

The National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), a powerful teachers’ union, has spent more than a week demonstrating in the capital. Union leaders argue that the government devoted significant resources to stadium upgrades, transportation improvements and tourism infrastructure while failing to adequately address teacher pay, school funding and public services.

The union established a large encampment in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s historic central plaza, where officials had planned to host the tournament’s primary FIFA Fan Festival. Government estimates suggest the encampment could house approximately 6,000 protesters, effectively limiting access to the square.

The disruptions have spread beyond the city center.

Earlier this week, demonstrators blocked sections of a major highway near the stadium. Police erected barriers to prevent protesters from reaching key tournament sites, and several World Cup-themed statues and promotional installations were vandalized.

Mexican authorities say approximately 19 social movements are expected to stage demonstrations during opening-week activities, with at least seven separate marches planned for Thursday alone.

Not all of the demonstrations focus on economic issues.

Groups representing families of Mexico’s missing persons have organized peaceful marches timed to coincide with the tournament opener. The groups hope to draw international attention to the more than 130,000 people reported missing in Mexico, most of them over the past two decades.

Amnesty International this week called for protections for the women leading many of those search efforts, arguing that the global spotlight surrounding the World Cup provides a rare opportunity to raise awareness of the issue.

Despite the tensions, Sheinbaum has sought to project confidence.

She has repeatedly stated that authorities will not be provoked into confrontation and has pledged that the opening match and related activities will proceed peacefully. The government has deployed large numbers of security personnel, including members of the National Guard, throughout the host cities.

The security presence follows a wave of cartel-related violence earlier this year in one of the World Cup host cities, an incident that raised concerns among tournament organizers and international visitors.

For businesses, however, uncertainty carries its own costs.

Hotels, restaurants, retailers and street vendors near both Estadio Azteca and the Zócalo have spent months preparing for large crowds. Road closures, transportation disruptions and the possibility of a canceled or relocated fan festival could reduce the foot traffic many businesses expected to generate significant opening-week revenue.

While one disrupted day is unlikely to derail a tournament lasting more than a month, it could affect perceptions among tourists deciding whether to travel to Mexico for later matches.

The timing is also politically sensitive.

Sheinbaum is preparing for important trade discussions with the United States later this summer. Those talks are expected to influence key manufacturing and supply-chain sectors that tie the two economies closely together.

A World Cup designed to showcase Mexico as a global tourism and business destination is instead opening amid images of protests, road blockades and heavy police deployments — a contrast critics have highlighted in recent days.

Tournament organizers remain confident that the opening match will proceed as scheduled. Whether the surrounding festivities and economic benefits unfold as planned remains the question hanging over Mexico City as the first whistle approaches.

JBizNews Desk — Mexico

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