El Semanario de Guadalajara / Just a few days before the 2026 World Cup kicks off—with only a handful of matches taking place in our country—we feel compelled to reflect on the illusion and manipulation that an event like this entails.
The main beneficiary—the one who stands to gain the most—is FIFA. Not the athletes, not the federations, not the governments, not the fans, not the citizens. FIFA, like a vacuum, takes it all.
The only ones who will receive a slice of the enormous economic pie that the tournament represents—and who will be made to feel “satisfied”—are the football federations, whose number has now increased, based more on economic criteria than anything else.
Football is wonderful, and playing it is exciting; it can instill many values in people. Precisely because of its vast global following and the lavish marketing machine that manipulates public will, FIFA alone profits from this unconscious, runaway momentum. To earn the “merit” of hosting the event, a country must follow FIFA’s guidelines (as they call them) and feel “grateful.”
An important factor to consider is ticket prices. For the group stage, at least in Guadalajara, they will range from 56,350 to 72,450 pesos per match—that is, at least seven times the monthly minimum wage. If a football-loving worker wants to attend a match and buys the cheapest ticket, without bringing family, they would need to dedicate seven months of their salary just to pay for it.
For comparison, at Roland Garros in Paris—one of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments currently underway—Loge seats for the early rounds cost the equivalent of 20,300 pesos. With that price, spectators can watch the world’s best tennis all day and see many top players, whereas a football match lasts only ninety minutes.
At the Mexican Grand Prix, a seat in Grandstand 1—not the general admission area—costs 30,500 pesos, allowing fans to experience a spectacular event.
It’s also worth taking a look at the construction projects underway in the city, which FIFA has also mandated. While they benefit a portion of the population, they were necessary with or without the World Cup.
That said, these projects have not reached the eastern part of the city; the World Cup will not pass through there, nor through the vast majority of state highways.
The World Cup will not pass through Guadalajara, because fans who want to watch Atlas or Chivas will have to settle for paying for a streaming platform that will also charge them.
Once the World Cup is over, Mexico will not have a better national team. The enormous expenses incurred will not help the team rise above its current 15th place in the world. There will be no better players, except for rare exceptions. We will continue to “get excited” about what we already have.
FIFA exploits fanatical passion to sustain its endless business, at the expense, moreover, of federal, state, and municipal governments that feed it with their own narratives. If only that same enthusiasm were directed toward ending crime and disappearances.