June 10 – With the opening game between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa taking place at the Azteca Stadium on Thursday, protests and encampments have flooded Mexico City.

Striking teachers have been protesting in the Mexican capital for more rights, and on Tuesday, thousands took part in a new demonstration following a week of protests that President Claudia Sheinbaum has called a “provocation”.

The CNTE union, has mobilised thousands of teachers who have set up semi-permanent protest camps in the heart of Mexico City. Their position is that teaching has become financially unsustainable due to low wages and the pension law. 

Protesters blocked an access road to the Azteca Stadium, Mexico’s main World Cup venue and stage of Thursday’s curtain raiser between Mexico and South Africa. Organisers fear further protests that could potentially block stadium access on game day.

Sheinbaum’s administration has engaged in dialogue with union leaders but maintains that meeting these specific demands in full is a budgetary impossibility. She previously said: “They want to make it seem like there is mass social turmoil in Mexico, and that’s not true.” 

On Thursday, a global audience is expected to watch the co-hosts open the World Cup in what is a repeat of the 2010 World Cup opening game. It’s the third time that Mexico has welcomed the tournament after staging the 1970 and 1986 World Cups. 

This time though, the Mexicans will play a junior role in the tournament, hosting just 13 matches out of the tournament’s 104 games in the supersized 48-team finals. The United States is hosting 78 matches. 

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