If you want a taste of the quintessential World Cup this summer, forget about America and head south of the border.
Despite dominating most games, you might walk into large swathes of the United States without realizing it’s home to the largest single sporting event on the planet, but soccer isn’t the number one sport in Canada either. Mexico is the only country among the three where soccer dominates the sporting world.
Only 13 matches will be played across the three cities, but once they start, there’s no escaping the World Cup excitement. Andre Villarreal and Cristian Galván are Mexican-Americans born in the United States, but their loyalties are not divided. It’s definitely football, not soccer.
Enthusiastic Mexican supporters broadcast the fate of their national team on the English-speaking Futbol Asada YouTube channel.
“We are Mexican-American, but we grew up rooting for the Mexican national team from day one,” Andre said from Guadalajara, one of the country’s three host cities.
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“Americans don’t have as much passion for this sport compared to Mexicans. In my opinion, the U.S. national team doesn’t have the home-field advantage that Mexico does.
“In terms of atmosphere, the games in Mexico will be more like the World Cup. In my opinion, Mexico will be the best country to host this World Cup.”
You have to be old enough to remember the 1970 and 1986 tournaments held in this country. So what can visiting foreign fans expect from the Mexico World Cup?
Andre says, “Expect a lot of parties and a good atmosphere. Mexican people always treat other fans really well.”
Christian points out, “Guadalajara is actually the mariachi and tequila capital of the world, so expect a lot every day, all day long.”
“I’m not ready yet.”
The fans are ready, but will the country’s infrastructure be okay? Hosting games in three stadiums doesn’t seem like a big undertaking, but Andre isn’t convinced.
“To be honest, no,” he admits. “I don’t think this country is ready. I’m not saying we should stop because we’re not completely ready, but we’re still repairing some roads here in Guadalajara.
“They are still putting in place transport from the airport to make it easier to access the stadium. In Mexico City, the Estadio Azteca has been undergoing renovations for the last couple of years. It should have been finished fairly quickly, but it keeps getting delayed. It’s not all bad, but it’s not completely ready.”
Renovations are still underway at the legendary Estadio Azteca (pictured in January) (Image: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
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mexican outlook
A home World Cup is a dream for many fans and a good result would be a hero for Javier Aguirre’s side, but it is not necessarily full of optimism.
Mexico has a track record of making it to the World Cup (they haven’t missed one since 1990) and getting out of their group, but they haven’t progressed any further.
In the last World Cup, they didn’t even make it to the finals. It would be a complete disaster this time around, but once the European play-offs are over, their group looks to favor South Africa, South Korea, and either Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or Ireland.
“In the last two major competitions (including the 2024 Copa America) they didn’t even make it out of the group,” Andre recalled, excluding the less competitive Gold Cup, which Mexico won last year.
Mexico won the 2025 Gold Cup, but their recent performance in other major tournaments has been poor (Image: Chandan Khanna/AFP)
“Mexico are known for falling out of groups, so that rarely happens. So the fans are a bit desperate and want to see a change.
“The current squad is a bit average. We have players in Europe as well, but apart from Raul Jimenez, they haven’t replicated their club form in the national team. There are still warm-up games, but at the moment the fans are not very optimistic.”
“This World Cup, we want to see the team win at least one game in the knockout stages. We’re at home, so I don’t think there can be any excuses.”
Both teams are expected to be eliminated in the last 16.
altitude advantage
The high altitude should work in the hosts’ favor, as a win in the group stage could hold the key to a place in the knockout stages and pave the way for a showdown with England in the last 16 in Mexico City.
“If we win our group, we’ll play in Mexico City in the round of 32, and if we win that, we’ll play in Mexico City again in the round of 16,” Christian said.
“If Mexico wins the group and England wins the group and wins the last 32 games, we will play Azteca in the round of 16. If we finish second in the group, we will play the round of 32 in Los Angeles. If we get out of the group in third place, we will go to Houston.
“It would be in everyone’s best interest if Mexico could advance (as group stage winners). One, by playing in Mexico City we have an added advantage. Two, it’s because of the World Cup. Because if Mexico don’t play at the Azteca, which has about 100,000 fans, for example, I know Scottish fans travel a lot, but it won’t be a full house for South Korea vs. Scotland in the Round of 32.”
Andre further added, “Playing in Los Angeles would be like a home game, but playing Mexico in Mexico City would be tough for the opposing team, even if it’s a big country like Spain or France.”
Estadio Azteca is located at 2,200 meters above sea level (Image: Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Personal interest hurts the national team.”
A nagging question remains: Why didn’t a country as passionate about soccer as Mexico advance beyond the quarter-finals? One theory revolves around self-interest at club level.
Almost half of the heavily fielded squad play in Europe, including Fulham’s Jimenez, Inter Milan striker Santiago Jimenez, Genoa centre-back Johan Vazquez and promising midfielder Obed Vargas, who recently joined Atletico Madrid from Seattle Sounders.
Christian said: “There will be around 10 to 12 players[playing in Europe]most of whom will probably start with the other starters from La Liga MX. So we have four or five starters who play in the top flight, and then we also have starters who play in the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Greece…”
Fulham’s Raul Jimenez is one of Mexico’s key players (Image: Omar Vega/Getty Images)
“The players we have acquired from the Mexican League are some of the best players and have the potential to go to Europe, but that is a completely different matter.”
So what’s the problem? Christian explains: “Mexico have a big problem. They just overprice their players and that’s keeping European teams away.
“Every few months, Mexican players will gain connections with Europe. There will also be reports of bids from clubs like Porto, PSV, Anderlecht (decent teams), but Mexican clubs always reject them.
“They would rather sell within the league because they can triple the price. European teams will offer, say, $4 million, which is probably a fair price because the Mexican market is unproven, but then they sell within La Liga MX for $12 million to $15 million. Then the player stagnates by staying in the league. That happens too often.”
Andre added: “Oved Vargas is a Mexican-American like us and he never played in the Mexican League. He played in MLS.
Obed Vargas recently left the Seattle Sounders and joined Atletico Madrid (Image: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
“I strongly believe that if he had played in the Mexican league, that transfer would never have happened. Such transfers are very rare because clubs prefer to sell within their home league for a higher price.”
“This is not just the club’s responsibility. Some players are very used to playing in the Mexican league and are not ambitious enough to go to Europe.
“And for the past 10 years, the Mexican League has abolished promotion and relegation, which has significantly reduced the level of the league and player development.
“There are a lot of problems, like the national team not performing well. People are fed up, but if we do well at the World Cup, they’ll get back on the train. That’s why people are here.”
Christian quipped: “Mexican fans are probably the most bipolar. If we lose one game, the world ends. They say, ‘This team sucks, I like the club more than the country.'” The next time their team wins, they become the biggest fans in the world and the whole country goes crazy.
“The World Cup is a defining tradition. If they have a good World Cup, they will be remembered as heroes. If their World Cup is bad, they will be remembered in a very bad well.”
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Wonder Kid is ready to rock the tournament
One player the Mexican league will struggle to retain is Gilberto Mora, a 17-year-old wonder who has been heavily linked with a move to Europe’s top teams.
The Tijuana attacking midfielder, who made his top league debut at the age of 15 and played in a senior international competition at the age of 16, was part of the Gold Cup winning team and became the youngest player to win a senior international competition.
He suffered a hernia problem in January and is expected to be included in the World Cup squad, injury permitting.
Gilberto Mora is one of the most exciting young talents in world football (Image: Yair Gonzalez/Jam Media/Getty Images)
“He is Mexico’s biggest talent,” Andre said. “This kid is being watched by the biggest teams in the world, like Real Madrid and Barcelona.”
“In my opinion, he was the best player at the (2025) U-20 World Cup. At the World Cup, people will really find out who he is.”
“He’s definitely a starter for Mexico and a top-three player on that roster because Mexico has struggled to create chances. He’s the light at the end of the tunnel. He’s creative and very smart. I think he’ll play on the big team right away.”
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