The arrival of the FIFA World Cup is an opportunity for Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, “to shine on the international stage,” and the Jalisco state government “launched an upbeat campaign highlighting the municipality where games will be played: ‘Zapopan, the heart of soccer,’” according to Steve Fisher of the L.A. TIMES. Families searching for their loved ones responded with, “Zapopan, the heart of clandestine graves.” According to statistics compiled by the state of Jalisco, between 2018 and March 2026, “1,907 bodies were found in Guadalajara and surrounding cities.” Tourists and tourist sites are “rarely touched by cartel violence in Mexico.” However, critics say that the graves are “an embarrassment for state and city administrators.” The graves, and the “potential discovery of more, worried” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. One Mexican official said that Sheinbaum “feared” that FIFA “might move the Mexico games to the United States or Canada” because of the violence. In February, Mexican special forces killed Jalisco Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, leading to unrest. FIFA officials “met with the Mexican government to review security for the Guadalajara matches.” U.S. law enforcement has been “advising Mexico on counter-terrorism methods.” Despite the preparations and the buzz among the nation’s “vast population of soccer fans,” World Cup fever “has not caught on among families of the disappeared and the search teams that each week fan out across Guadalajara, looking for new graves” (L.A. TIMES, 5/17).
Guadalajara launches World Cup campaign amid cartel concerns
