During the FIFA men’s World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Spanish King Felipe VI praised Mexico as a host of the quadrennial soccer tournament and spoke glowingly about the Mexican team, according to President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Sheinbaum, who attended the match between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium near New York City after receiving an invitation from Trump, said that everyone she had the opportunity to speak to at the final, “from President Trump to [Prime] Minister Carney to the King of Spain,” spoke “wonders of la selección nacional.”
The Mexican World Cup team won all three of its group stage matches, and its round of 32 clash against Ecuador, before losing 3-2 to England in a pulsating, nail-biting round of 16 game in Mexico City. El Tri’s four victories sparked jubilant — and very large — celebrations in Mexican towns and cities, especially the capital.
Sheinbaum said that world leaders and other officials she interacted with on Sunday — among whom were also Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, First Lady Melania Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino — also spoke wonders of Mexico as a co-host of the World Cup along with the United States, where the majority of the tournament’s 104 matches were played, and Canada.
“[They spoke about] how well Mexico did hosting the World Cup. Everyone was congratulating the fans [in Mexico],” she said, adding that her interlocutors at MetLife Stadium also mentioned “the happiness” with which the World Cup in Mexico was experienced.
Sheinbaum — who has asserted that Mexico had the best World Cup atmosphere of the three co-hosts — also said that Trump, Carney, King Felipe and others spoke about the warm way in which Mexico welcomed World Cup teams and tourists.
South Africa, Spain, Uruguay, Czechia, South Korea, Japan, Colombia, the Netherlands, Morocco, England and Sweden were among the teams that played matches in Mexico during the June 11-July 19 tournament. Another team, Iran, set up its base camp in Tijuana even though it played its three World Cup matches in the United States. The Iranian team received a very warm welcome from Tijuana locals. For his part, King Felipe watched Spain take on Uruguay in Guadalajara after meeting with Sheinbaum at the National Palace in Mexico City on June 25.
Sheinbaum reiterated at her Monday press conference that “everyone” at the stadium on Sunday congratulated her on the job Mexico did hosting the World Cup and spoke about “how well the Mexican team played.”
The president watched Spain defeat Argentina 1-0 in extra time from a glass-fronted stadium box filled with dignitaries. Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco attended the final with Sheinbaum, who presented the Golden Ball award to Spanish captain Rodri (Rodrigo Hernández), who was deemed the best player of the 2026 World Cup.
FIFA official: Mexico ‘was ready’ to host the World Cup; Mexican security team did an ‘excellent job’
Rodrigo Martínez-Celis, FIFA’s executive director for safety and security in Mexico, told the news agency EFE earlier this month that Mexico had “more than proven” that it was ready to host the World Cup despite a “narrative” of insecurity.
Before and during the tournament, Sheinbaum maintained that security in Mexico during the World Cup was guaranteed, and asserted that there was “no risk” for tourists who came to the country to attend matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. In late February, Infantino expressed his support for Mexico continuing as a co-host of the World Cup, despite the outbreak of violence on Feb. 22 after Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera was fatally shot in an army operation in Jalisco.
None of the 13 matches played in Mexico was disrupted by security concerns, leading Martínez-Celis to say that “we can say that Mexico was indeed ready to host” the World Cup.
“The best indicator for us is that today the world is talking about how well the matches were organized in Mexico,” the FIFA official told EFE in Mexico City.
He also said that Jalisco — where the violence in late February was concentrated — proved itself to be a worthy World Cup host. Four matches were played in Guadalajara, the state capital.
Martínez-Celis said that the federal government’s security cabinet, which was responsible for executing Mexico’s World Cup security plan, did an “excellent job.” Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said last week that Mexico had demonstrated its “capacity to organize global events with professionalism, hospitality and close coordination between the three levels of government.”
“The organization of the tournament strengthened Mexico’s image around the world and confirmed that the institutions of the Mexican state have the capacities needed to plan and carry out large-scale security arrangements in a coordinated and effective way,” he said.
Martínez-Celis said that “the World Cup for Mexico was an issue of national security and an issue of national pride.” He highlighted that the opening ceremony and match of the tournament in Mexico City went off well despite “additional pressure” from things such as transport concerns and protests.
Turning his focus to a World Cup tragedy, Martínez-Celis acknowledged the deaths of four people in Mexico City in a crowd crush during celebrations following Mexico’s June 30 win over Ecuador. He described the deaths as “terrible” and said that FIFA would review and analyze what happened.
Despite that calamity, the FIFA official made it clear that soccer’s international governing body considered the World Cup in Mexico a success. Most Mexican fans — who bonded over an optimistic (but ultimately unfulfilled) dream that El Tri could go all the way in 2026 — would probably agree, although the vast majority of them were unable to afford a ticket to watch a match live.
With reports from EFE
