Mexican President Sheinbaum skips World Cup opener in Mexico City
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum will not attend tonight’s World Cup opening game between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City. The opening ceremony is set for Mexico City Stadium, better known as Estadio Azteca, with Shakira and Burna Boy on the lineup. Sheinbaum said the opening of the World Cup in Mexico City is still “guaranteed” even as teachers have marched and blocked major venues.
Sheinbaum and the Estadio Azteca opening
The first of three World Cup opening ceremonies is scheduled to take place tonight at Mexico City Stadium. Sheinbaum, who has been President of Mexico since 2024, said she will not be there and staged a contest to donate her ticket to women aged 16 to 25 who submitted videos of themselves playing keep ups.
That leaves the ceremony centered on the match itself, plus the performances by Shakira and Burna Boy, without the country’s president in the stands. Sheinbaum has made public appearances that are part political signal, part image management, and this one now becomes a decision about who gets to occupy the most visible seat at a national spectacle.
Teachers block Mexico City venues
Teachers in Mexico City have staged marches and blocked major venues in a push for better working conditions. Their union has threatened further demonstrations outside the opening game of the World Cup, putting the event under pressure in the city where the ceremonies are taking place.
Sheinbaum condemned the protests and said, “What they want is for the international headline before the World Cup opening to be, ‘The Mexican government is repressing teachers’. That’s what they’re aiming for but they’re not going to get it.” The dispute now sits alongside the match itself, with the city preparing for an opening night that is both ceremonial and contested.
Sheinbaum’s political profile
Sheinbaum, 63, was born on June 24, 1962, became the first female mayor of Mexico City in 2018, stepped down in 2023 to run for president, and made history as the first female leader of Mexico. She is also the first person of Jewish heritage to hold office in Mexico and has an approval rating of about 70% or above, according to.
She studied physics at university, received a doctorate in energy engineering, became Secretary of the Environment for Mexico City after working at a research lab in California, and married Jesús María Tarriba Unger in November 2023. She was previously married to academic Carlos Ímaz Gispert, with whom she shares one daughter, Mariana, and she also raised her step-son Rodrigo from a young age.
Tonight’s opening game between Mexico and South Africa gives the presidency a public stage even in absence, while teachers plan more pressure around the stadium. Sheinbaum has already said the World Cup opening in Mexico City will go ahead; the immediate test is whether the protests stay outside the match or reach the entrances at Estadio Azteca.
