Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum will not attend the World Cup opening game between Mexico and South Africa tonight in Mexico City, leaving the first of three opening ceremonies to go ahead without the country’s leader in the stands. Sheinbaum said the event at Mexico City Stadium, also known as Estadio Azteca, is still guaranteed.
The absence lands at the exact moment the search around her name spikes, because the opening match is on the calendar for tonight and the political temperature around it is rising. Teachers in Mexico City have marched, blocked major venues and threatened further demonstrations outside the game, turning a sporting showcase into a test of order as much as celebration.
Sheinbaum’s decision matters because she made a point of trying to turn the opening into a civic moment. In the run-up, she invited women in Mexico aged 16 to 25 to submit videos of themselves playing keep ups for a ticket donation contest, a gesture meant to spread the event beyond the stadium gates and into homes and schools.
That effort now sits beside a sharper message from the president. Sheinbaum said opponents wanted the world’s pre-opening headline to be that the Mexican government was repressing teachers, and insisted they would not get it. She did not spell out whether her absence from the game was tied only to the protests or to something else, leaving the most immediate question around tonight’s ceremony unanswered.
The opening in Mexico City is one of three World Cup opening ceremonies and is expected to draw international attention, with performers including Shakira and Burna Boy. Sheinbaum, who became Mexico’s first female president in 2024 and is widely described as one of the country’s most popular elected leaders, is betting that the stadium event can still proceed as planned. Whether the night is remembered for the kickoff or for the streets outside will be decided in the hours ahead.
