While the world watches the World Cup, Mexico faces a tragedy that does not go away

By Brittany Solano

The Azteca Stadium is ready. The lights, the impeccable grass and the security deployment already anticipate the party that the entire world will watch on television. But a few blocks from that scene, in the corners where the paint on the buildings peels off and the noise of the city does not rest, another reality prevails. While thousands of fans arrive in Mexico City, groups searching for missing people prepare their banners. They know that they have a global audience before them and they do not plan to miss the opportunity to show the other side of the country: that of the 133,000 absences that the Government has not been able to explain.

“It's not that we want to ruin the party,” says a mother as she adjusts the laminated photo of her son on a poster, “it's that the party is impossible when you are missing a piece of life.” In the WhatsApp groups that bring together the groups, the logistics of the marches are mixed with desperate requests for information. This Wednesday, when the ball starts rolling, they won't be looking at the scoreboard; They will be marching towards the Zócalo.

The contrast that hurts

The contrast is visually brutal. On the one hand, the fan zones with giant screens and flags of all nations; on the other, the search cards stuck on light poles, on Metro stops and on the walls surrounding tourist areas. The idea is simple but devastating: that the foreign journalist, the European tourist and the FIFA delegate cannot walk through Mexico City without stumbling upon the face of someone who does not appear.

In the areas surrounding the stadium, security has tripled. President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration has made it clear that the event must go off without a hitch. However, the right to peaceful protest has become the new area of ​​dispute. CNTE teachers and victims' groups agree on one thing: the World Cup is the loudspeaker that they have not had in years. If the world is going to look at Mexico, let it also see the black holes left by violence.

The impunity that does not rest

Behind each figure—that cold number of 133,000 missing people—there is a dinner that was never served, an empty bed and a wait that is measured in years. The groups do not ask for favors; They demand truth. Impunity, that shadow that seems to have entrenched itself in Mexican judicial structures, is today the greatest enemy of these families.

While official speeches speak of a country prepared to welcome the world, files closed due to lack of evidence or disinterest accumulate in the search offices. The mobilization during these days of the World Cup is, in essence, an attempt to break the media siege. They want the cameras that came to film goals to focus, even for a second, on the drama of those who continue searching in graves, in searches and in every corner of the capital.

A country in tension

For the Sheinbaum government, the World Cup is a double litmus test. On the one hand, the logistics organization; on the other, the management of social discontent that does not seem willing to remain silent for an opening ceremony. The authorities insist that there will be guarantees for everyone, but the tension on the street is palpable. The security operation is a machinery greased to deter, but for a father who has not heard from his daughter for five years, fear has long ceased to be a determining factor.

When the referee gives the opening whistle, there will be one Mexico that celebrates and another that searches. The 2026 World Cup will undoubtedly be remembered for what happens on the field, but for thousands of families it will be the stage where, finally, they tried to let the world know that in Mexico, in addition to soccer, there is one of the most serious humanitarian crises on the continent.