“‘We get nothing’: residents fight back as Mexico builds big for 2026 World Cup”, 25 August 2025
…Mexico’s national Azteca Stadium – the largest in Latin America – is a sprawling complex. In June next year, it will host the opening match of the 2026 World Cup, a tournament split between Mexico, Canada and the US. The stadium’s perimeter will be expanded to include new shopping and leisure centres, and there will be renovation of the Azteca itself.
But about 200,000 people live in the stadium’s shadows. They include Indigenous and native people, as well as the Santa Úrsula Coapa community, located just a stone’s throw from the main entrance. These individuals, many living in poverty, are quietly being affected by the World Cup plans, according to Ramírez.
Chief among grievances is water – or the lack of it. The community’s water supply already experiences regular outages, and residents say it will be further threatened by stadium expansion due to increased demand…
In the Azteca district, residents say the plight worsened in 2018 when a neighbouring well was privatised by Televisa – a Mexican telecoms company, which also partly owns the Azteca stadium. The Santa Úrsula community says this contract was illegal and has contributed to over-exploitation, with extraction now required at a depth of 400 metres against the original 80 metres…
The office of Mexico City’s mayor, Clara Brugada, did not reply to a request for comment. However, during a community visit in May after protests, Brugada seemed to acknowledge the problem. Quoted by local media, she said Mexico could not be “hosting a World Cup if next to the great Azteca stadium we have a lack of water, flooding or other kinds of problems”.
…A spokesperson for the Televisa spinoff, Grupo Ollamani, said they “work very closely with the surrounding communities” and work with “the local government in order to alleviate their needs”…