7/1/26 (written by els5 | 6 minute reading time) With the World Cup underway across North America, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, each of the countries have been placed under the spotlight and have had to prepare for the heightened security implications of hosting a major sporting event.
In a year that began with a massacre on a soccer pitch in the Loma de Flores neighborhood in Salamanca, Guanajuato, one of numerous intense violent conflicts among Mexican organized crime groups like the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, and others, many raised questions regarding Mexico’s safety and ability to host such as complex, large-scale event as the World Cup.
Accordingly, Mexican authorities have been preparing for the world’s largest soccer tournament for months with heightened security measures in the country’s three host cities: Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City. The stadiums hosting this international tournament include BBVA Stadium in Monterrey, Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, and Estadio Azteca in Mexico City (See map below and use the Control (ctrl) button and zoom with the mouse for more detail).
Guadalajara: Security Concerns in Mexico’s Second Largest Metropolitan Area
With 5.6 million people, the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara has raised particular concerns for Mexican authorities in the wake of recent cartel-related violence. In 2025, clandestine graves with human remains were discovered in close proximity to Guadalajara’s Akron Stadium. In February 2026, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and other cities throughout the State of Jalisco saw a dramatic escalation of violence, following the death of Ruben “Nemesio/El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes in a Mexican military raid. In Guadalajara, schools were suspended and major intercity bus routes were canceled after more than 250 roads were blocked by burning vehicles and businesses.
Still, every day forms of crime are much more prominent in Guadalajara, as illustrated by the figure below on Reported Criminal Cases in Guadalajara from 2015 through February 2026.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbuam has repeatedly and categorically stated that there is “no risk,” and has tried to assure the world that the city will successfully host its four scheduled group matches and the upcoming playoff rounds without incident. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has had to repeatedly re-evaluate Guadalajara’s status as a host city in response to fears expressed by many, including the German and Portuguese national teams.
Monterrey: Security Preparations in Mexico’s Northern Industrial Hub
With more than 5.3 million people in the greater Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, its BBVA Stadium was slated to host playoff matches for teams including Bolivia, Iraq, and Suriname. Media reports indicated that BBVA Stadium operators a “crisis room” to enable security authorities to make real-time decisions during matches, and invested $5.9 million dollars in stadium upgrades, including improved access flow to mitigate mobility and safety concerns.
BBVA Stadium in Monterrey | Source: El País
To ensure that Monterrey was considered fan-ready, authorities focused on integrating local police with federal intelligence to protect the expected influx of international fans. The figure below shows the documented crimes for Monterrey from January 2015 through February 2026, clustered based on the crime type and sub-type. The largest clusters visualize the crime types with the highest documented crimes. The dataset does not account for the number of victims, meaning that one crime can have many victims.
Mexico City (CDMX): Security Preparations in the Mexican Capital
Home to more than 25 million people, Mexico City is the largest city ever to host the World Cup and has previous experience, and has done so in 1970 and 1986. Significant tension surrounded the March 28 friendly match meant for the newly opened Estadio Azteca, as the Portuguese federation expressed doubts about attending, forcing a flurry of diplomatic and security guarantees from the Mexican government.
The figure below shows data on documented crimes, specifically in the Coyoacán district near the stadium, from January 2015 through February 2026, clustered based on the crime type and sub-type. The largest clusters visualize the crime types with the highest documented crimes. The dataset does not account for the number of victims, meaning that one crime can have many victims.
Other Mexico-Based Locations Hosting World Cup Activities
While the cities of Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey are serving as tournament venues, the country is serving as a further destination for teams training in the country. 7 of the 48 teams, representing nearly 15 percent of all teams, are calling Mexico home.
In the map visualization of Mexico above, the cities hosting World Cup participants are shaded. Mexico is serving as the host country for seven teams from the Americas, Africa, and Asia during the tournament. Some team camps are near each other, such as South Korea and Colombia’s team camps. To zoom into the map by pressing the Control (ctrl) button and zoom with the mouse for harder-to-see cities.
With tensions high in the United States and with Canada for some teams, Mexico has become a place of refuge for teams. When the conflict between the United States and Iran began, the tensions boiled over to take place on the pitch as well as off. The Mexican government and FIFA have provided a plan to allow Iran to move their basecamp to Mexico, while they coordinate transportation into and out of the United States before and after matches. Other countries, such as Tunisia, have also had diplomatic tensions with the United States due to U.S. travel visa issues.
National Protection: The Kukulkán Plan and International Cooperation
To help ease concerns from international stakeholders in the tournament, the Mexican national government and from international governments, the Mexican government has created and implemented the Kukulkán Plan.
The Kukulkán Plan
The Kukulkán Plan is a comprehensive, multi-dimensional security strategy designed to protect visitors, athletes, and citizens before, during, and after the World Cup. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch has spearheaded the operation and has described the plan as unprecedented in Mexico’s history.
The plan includes massive personnel deployment, inter-institutional coordination, multi-domain surveillance, targeted risk management, strategic “security rings,” and international cooperation and training. The strategy includes mobilizing 100,000 agents from both the police and the Mexican Army to manage security conditions across all three host cities. The plan also integrates more than 20 federal institutions alongside state and municipal authorities. This includes high-level cooperation with the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), the Navy, and the National Intelligence Center to review intelligence and operational protocols.
Security efforts are not limited to the ground; the plan covers air, sea, land, and cyberspace. Technical measures include anti-drone systems, permanent monitoring, and early warning systems to detect real-time threats. The strategy is designed to address a wide array of potential threats, ranging from organized crime and terrorism to cybersecurity, health crises, and natural disasters. It also includes protocols for QRBNE threats (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives). Authorities will implement specialized security perimeters around critical infrastructure, including stadiums, airports, hotels, highways, customs, and popular tourist destinations.
The security measures include international cooperation with the American and Canadian governments, FIFA, and best international practices. Part of the operations include the “VITAL ARCHER” exercises, which involves 35 U.S. Army personnel providing specialized training to Mexican units, such as the Naval Special Operations Unit, to handle high-risk scenarios.
With all these operations in place, Mexican authorities are hoping to ensure that spectators domestic and abroad can enjoy the best of the global sport during the 2026 World Cup.
